Here's the flies in the ointment. We just had a federal election back on the 14^th of October. The Conservative party was returned to power with a minority government. A stronger minority then they had, but still a minority. No problem with that, sometimes a minority government can rule better than a majority. The problem I have is that the opposition has not even given the party in power a chance to govern. Times are a little crazy right now with a lot of economists saying that we are looking at a global recession. As well our biggest trading partner is, and always has been, the United States has just gone through a presidential election. Our federal budget is set to be delivered about a week after the new president has been sworn in. At that point we should have a clearer idea of what to do, and expect.

Unfortunately Dion and Layton don't want to wait. They want to start spending and saving jobs right now. So they want to be in power. Funny, Dion was scheduled to step down from leadership of his party in May, in fact he still is. Layton as leader of the NDP would never have a shot at the big chair himself. The NDP have almost always been a minority party in the House of Commons, and even during the Progressive Conservative and Reform years never formed the Official opposition. So as most Canadians see it these two are jumping at the opportunity to actually be the governing parties of Canada. Here's where the shoe drops and where a lot of Canadians got ticked off about it. Liberals and NDP combined have 114 seats total. The Conservative party has 143. Of 308 who has the remaining 51 seats? Why the Bloc Quebecois of course. According to Dion and Layton the Bloc isn't part of the coalition. So how can they out number the governing party without the Bloc's support?

Well that's where today's rallies come in. There were two rallies scheduled actually. Not just here in Toronto, but nation wide. Rallies for the coalition, and rallies against the coalition. Layton and Dion are trying to tell us that the current government is doing nothing to help with the current economic climate, they are trying to sell fear and uncertainty to the Canadian people. But a lot of Canadians don't want them controlling our government. So I thought I would do my part and go to the anti-coalition rally.

Before I went though, I thought I would stop off at Nathan Phillip's Square and see what the pro-coalition rally was up to. They were both scheduled for the same time so I went a little early to take pictures. Well I showed up and the first thing that I saw were people handing out small placards. One said “I'm a part of the 62% majority”, the other one said “Coalition Yes”. There were boxes of these that they were handing out. I made my way into the square proper and there was a stage all set up where there were musicians playing, and wandering around was a drum group. Another thing I saw were a lot of flags for different unions waving about. There were a few Canada flags, but not many for the group. There were of course all sorts of signs decrying the Harper government and his policies as well. Groups were wide and varied, from Socialists to people protesting about deporting “war resistors”.

There was a lot of noise going on. One guy was walking around with a bull horn triggering the siren constantly. It was about what I expected, and I wasn't impressed. I took off just as they were about to get started to save my sanity, and to do my part to show support for our current government.

So I got to Queen's Park about quarter after 12, after a quick stop to grab a coffee. It was cold out. I checked the weather when I got home and it was about -3 degrees Celsius with a light wind and snow. The crowd was about the same size I saw at the pro rally, but I was met by a gentleman handing out small paper Canada flags I grabbed one of course, and later went back and grabbed another one to put in my headband/ear warmer. One for each side. There were lots of Canada flags being waved, the small paper ones, fabric ones, car flags, you name it. If it wasn't so cold out you could have been at a July 1^st display. There were also a lot of signs putting down Layton, Dion, and Duceppe (leader of the Bloc Quebecois). I had fun, took a few pictures and wandered around while listening to the speakers they had lined up. The rally was scheduled to 2 pm but they wound it up by 1:30, due to the temperature I think. The last speakers were the gentlemen that organized it. All three of them are 17 years old! They can't even vote, but they were inspired enough to go out and get it done. I think that we will probably be hearing about them as time goes on. When every one was done speaking, the crowd ended the rally with the singing of our national anthem. It was heart warming to hear all those voices singing it.

One final note. As I was walking back to the subway, there was a couple small groups that had wandered up from the other rally. Couldn't miss them with their slick signs and chant of “Harper Out.” My response was simple, “No Dion.” So as I sit here in my home warming up and thinking about what will come next. As it stands the government has been shout down temporarily, or the correct term is prorogued, until the 26^th of January. The coalition is starting to show some cracks from between the two parties, and within both parties. Both Dion and Layton say that they will vote against the budget at that time and defeat the Conservatives in a vote of non-confidence. We shall see. I hope that the break will allow cooler heads to prevail and all parties concerned will back down from this precipice that we are standing on. Thats it I hope you will find this small little essay informative. Until next time, I am always on guard for thee.

And some links to the pictures of the Pro Rally, the Anti rally.

And for video here's the Pro Rally