15,000 march against Bush in Ottawa

IMC Ottawa, 30.11.2004 14:22

A large crowd of around 15,000 people rallied at Ottawa city hall, snaking through the downtown and marching on parliament hill

15,000 march on Canadian Parliament against Bush

Tuesday, November 30.

Protestors from Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and all surrounding areas converged on Ottawa today in the thousands.

The rally began at noon in front of Ottawa city hall. Speakers representing Ottawa city council, unions, the Mohawk nation and many other groups set the tone for the massive march: George W. Bush is not welcome in Ottawa.

By the time the march reached its final destination at Parliament hill, the crowd swelled from about 8,000 to about 15,000, blanketing the large front lawn of the parliament with anti-bush banners, placards and slogans.

Following the march, the PGA bloc lead a group of over 1,000 demonstrators to the hotel Chateau Laurier, where Bush is staying while in Ottawa. Demonstrators successfully smashed through several layers of barricades before being met by a large group of masked riot police. Indymedia reports that 5 arrests occured at this action, and one injury to a police officer.

(NOTE: Yesterday Indymedia posted an estimate of 10,000 protesters at the rally. Since then, news reports and other estimates lead us to believe it was more in the range of 15,000 to 20,000).

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Le Canada 30.11.2004 - 17:52 The bravery and dignity of the canadians make me ashamed to be an american.I can sum up my feelings in a short phrase. Vive le Canada! bob> Blessings! 30.11.2004 - 18:39 Please convey to all those at the Vigil that many of us who cannot be there for a variety of personal reasons are with them in Spirit. Our hearts and very souls are with you! Jennifer Davis> e-mail:: firefly2000@sympatico.ca .. 30.11.2004 - 19:59 it was an awesome day for sure. great turn out, great vibe, and great action. i am sad to be home now. TrollE> Homepage:: http://www.angelfire.com/yt/cack Crowd numbers 30.11.2004 - 20:40 A komrade told me the bourgeois media had set the crowd size at 5.000 -- which is about half the real size, apparently. Loox like they're still getting their "facts" from the State. Maybe if was the U.S. media they would've put it at 500. Comandante Gringo> e-mail:: blackhouse@mil.gov Thanks, Canada. 30.11.2004 - 20:42 Thanks to everyone in Ottawa for confronting this war criminal. Resistance is fertile. - Chicago DR> All right Canucks! 30.11.2004 - 21:09 There are alot of us here in the states that feel just the same as you. We applaud you! Don't let that criminal have a moments rest, hound him like he deserves. Its gonna take an international effort to change the imperial, facist ways of the new American governmnet. Anyways, 3 cheers for Ottawa! Canadian at Heart> funny stuff 30.11.2004 - 22:22 Rush Limbaugh reported in his "media myth detector" section, that only 39 people and 3 police officers attended the Ottawa protests. In my view he implies that this was the entirety of the protest, when in fact, the Agence France Presse (AFP) article he is citing (without mentioning where he has gotten this information) was merely commenting on early protests. He even apparently ignores a quote in his own article stating "What you can't see, Don, is -- are all the police officers and security forces who are out around here in great number." Limbaugh's conclusion? "There was no protest." Rush Limbaugh Article  http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_113004/content/media_myth_detector.guest.html AFP Article  http://sg.news.yahoo.com/041130/1/3ox0j.html rush22> Web page links should be underlined 01.12.2004 - 00:47 And I am the other person I would call a bitch. Oh ya. The demo. Short snapper: 52% of Americans think the man should be head of the household. *twitch* In Canada ... well lemme tell you, it was no 52%! (Hey, I just moved to Redmonton from Hali [shouts!!!] and I have to thank gawd for small mercies.) We keep on keepin' on, yaa? Yaaa /Who's /streets//?! //Our/ streets/!!! Ya basta! hfx_ben> Video 01.12.2004 - 03:12 does any one have any video footage i could get ahold of for a movie im making? email it to "  another.kid.for.world.peace@gmail.com " Charlie> ottawa protest 01.12.2004 - 05:15 muchas gracias canada . . after the 16,000 dissenting at the School of Assassins at FT Benning, Georgia a couple weeks ago that did not receive any publicity by the media here. The solidarity grows stronger around the planet. thanks for making it so . . Peace works ! dave williams> Pictures? 01.12.2004 - 08:11 Does anyone want to post up some URLs with all of the pictures they took yesterday? I think we should send Mr. Limbaugh the evidence to prove what a fool he is. I'll be posting my pictures later today, when I have them developed. Chris Brown> why are WE telling so many lies? 01.12.2004 - 10:39 Media reports lead you to believe attendance was 15,000?? Really? Media reports put the crowd at 5-8,000. SO WHY ARE YOU LYING ABOUT CROWD SIZE?? so what if there were 5,000 people on such notice! That's an excellent turnout of people letting one man know he is not welcome here. When you publish obvious and blatant lies about attendance (The hill was absolutely NOT filled with people -- we all saw the tv pictures!) you play their game. The others make it seem like anything short of 100,000 people is a failure. It's not! We should focus not on silly estimates, but instead keep pressing our MESSAGE over and over and over. It's not about crowd size, but when you lie about it and distort it, it takes away from our cause, and it takes the real debate off the reeal issues. Be honest. It was a good turnout, and a good day! Now keep your eyes on Halifax! firefly2000@sympatico.ca> e-mail:: firefly2000@sympatico.ca Numbers? 01.12.2004 - 10:42 What methods are used to estimate the number of protesters? I'm curious, because the numbers here keep inflating, and people are saying the numbers reported by the media are too low. Indymedia: 10,000...no...15,000 "Official" numbers: 5,000-7,000 I know the police, etc. estimate the nnumbers accoring to their views of the crowds from above. They count people in a particular area, determine densities, and extrapolate that to the larger crowd. Not perfect, definitely, but at least I know how they figure this out. What methods were used to determine the 15,000 figure? Cheers, Vic Vic> Thank you 01.12.2004 - 11:05 To all attending or supporting the demonstrations against Bush in Ottawa: Thank you all very much for your efforts. I really regret that I couldn't have been there with you. But I am thinking of you all and trying as best I can to have some sort of positive impact on things here in the US. There are lots of people in the US who are in solidarity with you. Of course, part of the problem is that Americans with views like mine are outnumbered and outspent by those who are either disenfranchised or who illustrate the thoughtlessness, insularity, hypocrisy, and meanness that are among the worst aspects of the US stereotype. Most readers of this post probably already realize this and everything else I say here, but I still wanted to say it, if for no other reason than to illustrate that there are US citizens with views like these. Regardless of whether they were too brainwashed to get it, Bush voters have acted against their best interests and against common decency. They have effectively mandated terrible crimes against vulnerable people in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti (and in other places, too), as well as domestic and environmental policies that have been very abusive to people in the US and in many other parts of the world, and not just for the present but presumably for many future generations. The US is not the only nation in the world currently engaged in imperialistic abuse. But by any consistent standard, US abuse is the worst, the most hypocritical, and by a pretty spectacular margin. Thus a major concern for popular movements everywhere should be application of a lot of pressure to limit actions by local elites that would otherwise enable abuse by the US elite. I am very sorry to say that the country that raised me poses a grave problem to current and future generations everywhere. All US citizens bear some level of responsibility for this problem, and I for one plan to use all peaceable means available to work on it. Political and economic resistance to abusive US power are viable, feasible options. However their success will depend on consistent worldwide support and participation on a massive, unprecedented scale. I hope that these options will be pursued by many people in many countries, just as the valiant demonstrators in Ottawa chose to do on November 30th. Gringo for Peace Gringo for Peace> i think we made our point anyway 01.12.2004 - 11:43 no matter what the real number is, i think we made our point... sent a few american news anchors into a bit of a 'tizzy', tucker carlson ranting a little frantically about how these protests werent about 'americans or hating bush" but about canadian "self-hatred" and a result of the "derivitive nature of canadian society." everyone knows what kinda of BS crossfire represents, but why not prove it again. anyway, cnn reports the numbers at 2500-5000. i agree with the person who said it really doesnt matter, it was a great crowd for ottawa and on such short notice. but being there, i really think it had to be closer to 10,000 bushedout> numbers spread out 01.12.2004 - 14:15 I am really disappointed that the media has downsized the number of protesters on Tuesday. But then again, I should have expected it. It would have been much more effective and media worthy to have ONE peaceful rally/protest in Ottawa instead of several at different times and places. KAL> numbers estimates 01.12.2004 - 19:25 from crowd estimation vantage point (1:45pm) from parliament (around 2:25pm) Regarding numbers, during the noon march down Laurier, I watched and counted from a very good elevated vantage point. The marchers were especially fast moving and densely packed during this demo (as opposed to some others I've counted). I estimated an average of 25-40 people per second passing the spot directly in front of me. The marchers took a total of 13 minutes to pass (not including time taken for stragglers... and lots of police ... after the end of the main mass of protesters had passed). Using the mean estimate of crowd flow, the calculation of the total paricipants is therefore: (25+40)/2 ppl/sec X 60 sec/min X 13 mins = 25,350. This is a mean estimate. The upper end estimate is 31,200 and the lower end estimate is 19,500. Eric Squire> Bush in Canada 01.12.2004 - 23:47 I am so thrilled to see that so many of us showed this war criminal that he is not welcome in Canada! Bush & Co belong in jail, not at he White House. Marie> Bush in Canada 01.12.2004 - 23:47 I am so thrilled to see that so many of us showed this war criminal that he is not welcome in Canada! Bush & Co belong in jail, not at he White House. Marie> Bush in Canada 01.12.2004 - 23:47 I am so thrilled to see that so many of us showed this war criminal that he is not welcome in Canada! Bush & Co belong in jail, not at he White House. Marie> Bush in Canada 01.12.2004 - 23:47 I am so thrilled to see that so many of us showed this war criminal that he is not welcome in Canada! Bush & Co belong in jail, not at he White House. Marie> Hey hey ! 02.12.2004 - 14:36 HEY HEY ! HO HO ! gEORGE bU$H HAS GOT TO GO ! it was a great day ;) rhizo> e-mail:: rhizosolenia20012yahoo.com Thank you, Canada!! 02.12.2004 - 21:51 If it wasn't so damned cold I'd move up there with you. Mary Webber> Loserville 02.12.2004 - 22:43 Loserville population: 5,000 location: HILL o'BEANS during Bush visit Fred Garvin> Bush not welcome in parts of US, either 02.12.2004 - 22:47 Congrats on a great showing. As an American who has lived in Canada recently I know how deeply Bush is hated; be assured that feeling is shared by a good half of the US population. When the Man came to Seattle last time, they routed his motorcade 4 blocks away from any protestors. A few of us got wind through monitoring the police scanners and walked down in time to see the big black cars go by -- two with machine gun muzzles pointing out the windows. Now this was in Hunt's Point, one of the richest suburbs of Seattle, nothing but multimillion-dollar mansions overlooking the lake . . . makes you wonder. Another few years of polarization and will all wealthy Americans be living in gated ghettoes -- and the rest of us sleeping on the sidewalks? That is the direction the Bushies are pushing. I'm disheartened that nearly half of the electorate apparently supports this nonsense. But not all Americans do, particularly in places like Seattle, where 82% voted for Kerry, or Santa Cruz (76%). We hate the war and the ignorant policies Bush has adopted on energy, the environment, and heck, just about everything! The Pac NW would just as soon secede from the Union the way things are going. Check out my online movies about the peace movement at the URL below. Fear not--we will not give up, and there are too many of us for even the mighty FBI to lock up. PeaceBrother> e-mail:: peacebrother@resist.ca Homepage:: http://www.CityOfArt.net/movies.html