Slow clap for the young protester, who pulled a painted paper stop sign reading “Stop Harper!” from her skirt, gracefully displayed it for a nation to see and judge, before silently being removed from the floor of the Canadian Senate with her head held high and human dignity still intact.
The 21-year-old former Senate page, Bridgette DePape made a name for herself this past Friday by pointing out what many of us already know – Stephen Harper and the Conservative majority do not support peaceful, positive, human progression, instead leaning towards further acquisition of power and control of the masses.
Of course, many feel her actions were inappropriate and ill-timed. Some said it showed a lack of maturity or perspective. Even the friendly Jack Layton voiced his displeasure with the peaceful protest.
But really, was it that bad? The throne speech was hardly disrupted, and DePape still got her message across clearly.
“Harper's agenda is disastrous for this country and for my generation,” she said in a press release following her protest and subsequent dismissal from a job she likely had no desire of keeping.
She, like many young Canadians, believes the youth of this world are the ones with the most to lose. They bear the responsibility of taking care of the Earth and its humans when the generation ahead of them moves on. Yet they are offered no recognition of their plight or heavy burden during the time they are considered youth.
So, alternative actions must be taken when it appears our country and our world are falling into the hands of a small number of power-hungry elite.
Though her ideas may be considered idealistic, sometimes it is those radical ideas that start the changes needed to break down and repair a stagnant system based around capitalistic, pseudo-democratic ideals.
It is possible to live in a country and a world that values human progression, peace and prosperity for all, while still taking care of our planet's needs.
The system we live in is comfortable at times, but continues to prove itself as unreliable and progress is often achieved at the expense of others – this happens at the individual level through to international relations.
In Canada, we have a variety of values and beliefs, but DePape said it best: “Contrary to Harper's rhetoric, Conservative values are not in fact Canadian values.”
We have a country that has a chance to build on its own peace and prosperity and potentially create a model for bigger, better, global goals.
However, we do not need a Canadian version of Arab Spring as DePape called for, since history has shown revolutions only lead to a new repressive regime, built to enforce the new system, which defeats the purpose of fighting for change.
Rather, change in Canada and around the world should come gradually and through education, the freedom of thought and the freedom to express yourself creatively, as DePape so gracefully did.
If we accept the injustices of today, we will be the oppressed tomorrow.
