View from today's pro-Coalition rally

Photo courtesy of Kim Elliot

We won! Nathan Philips Square at City Hall was packed with coalition supporters. The pro-Harper, anti-coalition conservative party rally attracted just a few hundred people on the front lawn of Queen's Park. It must have been a very lonely feeling to know that your base is too busy doing other things like holiday shopping rather than go out and stick up for what they believe. Or perhaps their base has abandoned them? Hard to say. But we filled our place, they didn't. So we win!


Photo courtesy of Matthew Hayles, BlogTO

I didn't expect, but was pleasantly surprised to see Dion & Layton on the stage with plenty of MPs and other luminaries like my councillor Joe Mihevc. Despite concerns from some (many?) quarters, about the future of Dion's leadership, he was warmly welcomed by the crowd with roars of approval for every criticism he made of Harper & his con game. Layton also belted out a good speech. There was nothing new but I guess that was okay.

MC Mary Walsh was funny and reminded us about the speech Harper had stolen from John Howard of Australia and delivered in the House in his bid to have Canada join the only coalition he's been prepared to play in - the coalition to invade Iraq.

Saxophonist Rich Underhill made honorable mention of the need for proportional representation to help fix this mess. Good thing he did because no one else did even as Dion & Layton skated around the issue from the stage with their main messages about "working together" and the will of the people. Rich taught us his new sing-a-long song - "I don't like Stephen Harper. I wish he would just go away."

The last time I heard a Liberal leader speak was in 1968 when I was 14 and Trudeaumania was sweeping the land.

ETA - For more rally pics, check out Kim Elliot's slideshow.