Protesters tell PM to have a heart and listen
About 1,000 people gather at Vancouver City Hall in latest rally, one of many across Canada
Downtown Vancouver traffic slowed to a crawl at about 6 p. m. Friday when Chris Reeki began to dance and bang on his spirit drum in the intersection of Burrard and Robson streets.
Soon drumbeats and chanting voices could be heard from blocks away as hundreds of protesters and onlookers joined an Idle No More rally.
Vancouver police soon moved the protesters to the northeast street corner sidewalk, but the energy of the crowd remained strong despite cold temperatures.
“We’re here to show our support. We’re the next generation,” said 22- year old Reeki, a member of Haisla Nation originally from Kitimat. “We want others to follow in our footsteps. We want our treaty rights back.”
The Idle No More movement is a growing phenomenon, said Barry Cardinal, a Cree native from Alberta who recently returned from Arizona, where he said some Navajo and Apache friends were talking about it with interest.
“They told me, ‘ It sounds like a revolution,’ ” he said as car horns blared on Burrard Street.
“Some people are inconvenienced ( by the protest), but we’ve been inconvenienced for hundreds of years by government policy,” Cardinal said.
Protesters carried signs opposing Bill C- 45, the omnibus budget bill that includes changes to First Nations land management, management of natural resources and education.
Speakers at a rally earlier Friday called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to “open his heart” and listen to what aboriginal Canadians are saying to him.
Shane Pointe, a member of the Musqueam Nation in Vancouver, said in a post- rally interview it has taken 200 years for aboriginal people to heal themselves and have enough confidence and strength to say “No, this is what we want — and all we want is what’s ours.”
He said gatherings such as Idle No More are important because they increase the collective self- esteem and confidence of First Nations people.
Asked what he would like to say to Harper, Pointe laughed and then said: “I love you man. I love you. Open your heart — that’s all Steve needs to do. We don’t hate him, we don’t dislike him. What we don’t like is his behaviour.”
The first rally started just after noon on the grassy, park- like area to the north of city hall. An estimated 600 marchers walked from the Native Education Centre at Main and East Fifth Avenue along Broadway to 12th and Cambie and joined the existing rally to increase the crowd to about 1,000.
They were one of many Idle No More protests held across Canada on the day Harper had talks with Assembly of First Nations leaders.
Many at the gathering at city hall wore traditional West Coast button blankets, cedar hats and other regalia. One woman held a tightly bound bundle of smoking sage in her hand while others drummed on hand drums and sang traditional songs.
One of the unexpected moments came when the crowd started singing O Canada.
Many also carried banners and signs denouncing the federal government for its recent changes to the Indian Act and cuts to environmental protection.
One sign said: “Harper Needs A Bannock Slap!”