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Freedom train to Stopwatching.us NSA protest on 10/26

2 points by zmanian 13y ago

ihsw 13y ago
One has to wonder whether it will turn out like the On-to-Ottawa Trek: > The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a long journey where thousands of unemployed men protesting the dismal conditions in federal relief camps scattered in remote areas across Western Canada. They didn't make it to Ottawa, as a matter of fact at half-way they were ambushed by the RCMP. The justification for it is as such: > The Federal Minister of Justice Hugh Guthrie made the false statement in the House of Commons on July 2 that "shots were fired by the strikers and the fire was replied to with shots from the city police." During the long trials that followed, no evidence was ever produced to show that strikers fired shots during the riot. For his part, Bennett characterized the On-to-Ottawa Trek as "not a mere uprising against law and order but a definite revolutionary effort on the part of a group of men to usurp authority and destroy government." Granted, this was in 1935 and the Red Scare hadn't yet been in full-swing, however the Communist Party of Canada was involved. The political fall-out is particularly notable: > The events helped to discredit Bennett's Conservative government, and in the 1935 federal election, his party went from holding 134 seats to just 69. It also increased the notoriety of the Communist Party of Canada, which was behind the organization of the Trek. After the Trek, the government provided free transportation as a peace sign back to the west. The camp was soon dismantled and replaced by seasonal relief camps run by the provinces and that paid the men slightly more for their labour than the earlier camps. Although the Trek did not reach Ottawa, its reverberations certainly did. Several demands of the Trekkers were eventually met, and the public support that galvanized behind the Trek set the tone for the social and welfare provisions of the postwar era. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-to-Ottawa_Trek http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-to-Ottawa_Trek
- dmmmu 13y ago
  Yes. It just may... and wouldn't that be interesting and effective. != )

2 points by zmanian 13y ago

ihsw 13y ago

One has to wonder whether it will turn out like the On-to-Ottawa Trek: > The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a long journey where thousands of unemployed men protesting the dismal conditions in federal relief camps scattered in remote areas across Western Canada. They didn't make it to Ottawa, as a matter of fact at half-way they were ambushed by the RCMP. The justification for it is as such: > The Federal Minister of Justice Hugh Guthrie made the false statement in the House of Commons on July 2 that "shots were fired by the strikers and the fire was replied to with shots from the city police." During the long trials that followed, no evidence was ever produced to show that strikers fired shots during the riot. For his part, Bennett characterized the On-to-Ottawa Trek as "not a mere uprising against law and order but a definite revolutionary effort on the part of a group of men to usurp authority and destroy government." Granted, this was in 1935 and the Red Scare hadn't yet been in full-swing, however the Communist Party of Canada was involved. The political fall-out is particularly notable: > The events helped to discredit Bennett's Conservative government, and in the 1935 federal election, his party went from holding 134 seats to just 69. It also increased the notoriety of the Communist Party of Canada, which was behind the organization of the Trek. After the Trek, the government provided free transportation as a peace sign back to the west. The camp was soon dismantled and replaced by seasonal relief camps run by the provinces and that paid the men slightly more for their labour than the earlier camps. Although the Trek did not reach Ottawa, its reverberations certainly did. Several demands of the Trekkers were eventually met, and the public support that galvanized behind the Trek set the tone for the social and welfare provisions of the postwar era. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-to-Ottawa_Trek http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-to-Ottawa_Trek

dmmmu 13y ago
Yes. It just may... and wouldn't that be interesting and effective. != )