THOUSANDS protest Bill 10 and the Guidelines at Edmonton and Calgary rallies

May 14, 2016

Edmonton rally

Calgary rally

THANK YOU!

Thank you Alberta for showing up!

Thank you to the people who traveled from ACROSS THE PROVINCE to show the government that they care deeply about protecting Alberta children through the upholding of parental rights.

There were an incredible number of people who attended our peaceful rallies – over 4000 combined between the two cities of Edmonton and Calgary!!  Many drove significant distances and some even arranged buses from Red Deer, Grande Prairie and elsewhere in the province.

What an encouragement it is to know that we are not alone in our concerns!

I had the honour and privilege of being the MC at the Edmonton rally today and would like to say a few words of appreciation to those who attended our city’s rally:

First of all, a tremendous thank you to each one of our speakers.  It is difficult enough for anyone to speak in front of a huge crowd of over 2000 people, let alone when faced with a small, but extremely vocal, group who persistently tried to heckle and disrupt their speeches.

I was so proud of how each person maintained composure during their speeches even in the midst of the loud few that tried to disrupt them. Though it was tempting, I was so relieved that no one directly confronted that small vocal group and so thankful that the tension, though frustrating, was controlled.

Many people passed along compliments afterwards regarding the incredible insights, courage and professionalism that speakers demonstrated in their speeches. People kept telling me how impressed they were with the caliber of all the speeches, using words like stellar and terrific!  Well done!

To our volunteers, thank you. Without you, this event would not have been possible!

For those who were unable to attend the rallies in person, we hope to share more photos, videos and transcripts of the speeches in the coming days.

We did receive considerable media coverage in Edmonton. But for anyone who actually attended the rallies, you may want to make phone calls to some newsrooms to share your concerns with the accuracy of some of the reporting.

For example, one news station somehow, amazingly enough, called their story “LGBTQ washroom debate”, despite the fact that for 2 hours we mentioned nothing about the bathrooms.  Given the significant role that media has in the shaping of the public consciousness, we must hold them accountable to a much higher standard of journalism and reporting.

As lawyer John Carpay suggested at the finale speech to our Edmonton crowd, this will be more of a marathon than a sprint.

We must continue gathering signatures and spreading awareness so that next year we will have THOUSANDS MORE people who will accompany us and strengthen our collective voice.

This government underestimates the concerns we have for the children of this province, as well as how highly we value our freedoms and families.

Please keep speaking out and making your concerns known to more and more Albertans, as well as our government. As demonstrated by the thousands of people who showed up today, you are definitely not alone!

WELL DONE, ALBERTA!!

*More information and photos are available on the Parents for Choice in Education website!

Written by informedalbertans Posted in Uncategorized