Stephen Taylor was blogging from the NDP national convention and reported the following:
Another striking moment came during the international policy discussion portion when NDP MP Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre) suggested that Tamil actions in blocking traffic in Ottawa and occupying a highway in Toronto were legitimate methods for Tamils to get the attention of the Canadian government.
What was Paul Dewar thinking?
How is it legitimate to block traffic? To put women and children on a 400-series highway with a 90-100 km/h speed limit? To inconvenience thousands of commuters?
People get the attention of the Canadian government all the time without resorting to disrupting traffic, costing thousands in taxpayer dollars for special police presence, and generally behaving like idiots.
While I had, at one point, sympathy with Tamil victims of the war in Sri Lanka the fact that the “protestors” response to the OPP presence was to put women and children at the front of the protest has left them with zero credibility in my books.
You don’t “stand up for your cause” by hiding behind women and children.
That Paul Dewar would condone the behavior of the protesters is irresponsible. That no one within the NDP has come out to suggest it’s not acceptable to take over roadways in order to “be heard” suggests they agree.
No wonder the NDP is considered a fringe party by a lot of people.
- Rafael.
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