Calling it a rally in support of democracy, more than 3,500 people gathered at Parliament Hill Saturday afternoon to demand Prime Minister Stephen Harper immediately re-convene Parliament.
The Ottawa rally — one of more than 60 planned rallies in cities across the country — boasted a turnout almost three times more than organizers were expecting.
Jesse Root, one of the organizers of the Ottawa rally, said the number of people was proof that the Internet can be a powerful tool when piecing together a political movement.
“There have been a lot of questions about whether Facebook can be used to co-ordinate a political movement,” said Root.
“Look around.”
The rallies were organized after an Alberta university student created a group on the social networking website Facebook called Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, which quickly became a rally point for Canadians who were against Harper’s decision to suspend Parliament until March, rather than having it reconvene this Monday as had been scheduled.
The group’s membership quickly swelled; it currently has more than 212,000 members. Source...
