A late follow-up to the SPP protest

Even though I care a lot about the situation of this planet, I tend to stray from politics because I find it hard to understand; history and geography were always weakpoints for me in school. However, because I realize that there are great threats to public interest at play currently, I try to keep aware of the broader political spectrum. I felt embarassed that the protest against the SPP kind of snuck up on me and I didn't make a comitment to attend it until the last minute. When I was walking toward the hill, I had this frightening but noble sensation that I was marching to war, that I was in a war against war, not one of physical violence, but a war of the mind, of the psyche. Maybe my glorification was a bit out of line; after all, it's the organizers like those in the Council of Canadians who are really on the frontlines of this battle.

I was considering putting on clown face for the protest, as I was attending it with my roley poles turning, but I didn't have time, so instead I decided to put on "anti-war paint", streaks of black paint under my eyes and such. At one point in the protest, I even painted other people's faces. It felt fun to add a little novelty to the ritual defiance. Speaking of novelty, my friend made a sign that said "Portobello mushrooms, not Montebello backrooms !", and his picture made the Ottawa Citizen the next day.

For anyone who's unaware of the impending threats to democracy and public interest that the SPP poses, here's a video of Maude Barlowe describing why we should challenge it: