Protesters occupy absent MP’s offices
As MPs in Ottawa were preparing for a long night of voting on opposition amendments to the federal budget, protests were staged both inside and outside Ryan Leef’s office in Whitehorse late Wednesday afternoon.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
STAKING A POSITION – Malcom Boothroyd, Laird Herbert, Zoe Walker and Warren Fuller (left-right) occupied Yukon MP Ryan Leef’s office late Wednesday afternoon until Whitehorse RCMP asked them to leave at about 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, a large group of protesters had gathered outside Leef’s offices (below).
As MPs in Ottawa were preparing for a long night of voting on opposition amendments to the federal budget, protests were staged both inside and outside Ryan Leef’s office in Whitehorse late Wednesday afternoon.
Seven Yukoners, including some members of the Youth Peel Alliance, staged a sit-in in Leef’s office starting 10 minutes before the office was scheduled to close at 4:30 p.m.
Outside, a larger crowd gathered in protest against the budget at 5:30 p.m.
By just after 6 p.m., the RCMP had been called and protesters inside had left Leef’s office, joining the crowd outdoors.
In a statement sent by email this morning, Leef said: “I appreciate those who attended my Whitehorse office and who in a peaceful, respectful and lawful manner, expressed their views.
“Some of the demonstrators indicated that they would occupy the office and not leave unless directed by the RCMP.
“Due to tenant obligations, fire code issues and standard security guidelines, we could not allow occupants to remain much later than closing hours.
“The RCMP attended to request the protesters to continue outside of the office. As I understand it, everyone acted in a professional, respectful and peaceful manner, and should be commended for such.”
Speaking by phone to Kay Richter, Leef’s chief of staff, from the MP’s Whitehorse office Wednesday evening, local youth Malcolm Boothroyd explained they were “staging a peaceful occupation to voice (their) opposition to the Conservative omnibus (budget) bill.”
“We’re urging Mr. Leef to stand up for Yukoners and to stand up to (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper,” he said.
Richter said she would get the message to Leef in the House. She asked the protesters to respect that this was out of the control of the staff member at the Whitehorse office and to permit him to go home.
Boothroyd said they’d leave sooner if Leef agreed to vote against the bill.
“We feel that putting ourselves on the line we’re speaking out because this budget’s putting our futures on the line,” he said in an interview.
“We’ll happily stay here overnight, but if the cops come before then, we’ll see what happens.”
Another protester, Zoe Walker, said, “We need to really show him that if he’s going to sacrifice our futures, we need to make a point to stand up for ourselves and show him that he needs to too.”
“Ryan Leef has voted hundreds of times in the House of Commons and he has never once voted differently from Stephen Harper,” local resident Laird Herbert said in a press release provided by the protesters.
“We are urging Mr. Leef to vote against this budget and show that he’s committed to serving his constituents rather than Harper.”
In a second phone call, Richter said Leef would vote in favour of the bill, but would provide his reasons for doing so in writing to each of the protesters.
In an interview earlier this week, Leef provided various reasons why he endorses the budget, not the least of which being that the budget is a confidence vote and it would lead to another federal election if the bill failed.
Leef said that while ultimately, he supports the content of the bill and will vote for it for that reason, he doesn’t see an alternative plan either.
“We’ve laid out a great plan,” he said. “The Opposition has not presented any kind of credible plan or any kind of credible option as an alternative.”
See cartoon, p. 6; the national aspect of the controversy, p. 8; and Yukoners’ letters in Friday’s Star.
Martin Lehner
Jun 14, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Just so everyone is aware, this “occupy” protest forced me (the office staffer) to stay well past normal office hours. While I don’t mind, and I can absolutely appreciate an individual’s right to protest, this display caused the Yukon Council on disABILITY to delay a board of directors meeting, which I am a part of. YCOD is an excellent organization that helps those in our community with disabilities find gainful employment. This was explained to the protestors, yet made no difference at all in their decision to continue to stay.