4.15.2009

jason kenney hides from supporters of war resisters in his hometown

Collette Lemieux, Campaigner and peace activist from Calgary, writes:
Jason Kenney was supposed to be in Calgary today [Tuesday, April 14] to speak to members of the Chamber of Commerce during the lunch hour. We organized a picket outside of the building.

About 10 people came out on a very wintery feeling day (I had to brush snow off my car and the wind was gusting to 50 km/h). We all had signs and we handed out all 150 of our leaflets from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. A few people stopped and signed the petition as well.

There was a lot of media who showed up: CBC radio, Calgary Herald, Metro, CTV, CityTV, Canadian Press and 660 News (local right-wing radio). . . .

So you'll note I said "supposed to be". Well, he didn't actually show up while we were there. He was supposed to speak at 12:30 and do a media scrum at 1:00 but his plane was delayed and he didn't make it. I think he didn't want to meet with us. : )

They asked if we had tried to arrange a meeting with him... I have a good story about calling his constituency office and the woman who answered was rude and dismissive.

This story on CTV Calgary focuses on the protest; this Canadian Press story from the Winnipeg Free Press also mentions the issue.

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