By Ryan Cormier
Activists park themselves on the broad lawns around the Eternal Flame and the wide cement walkway to the stairs of Parliament Hill. They march, wave signs and shout their message to the federal government. But how many politicians behind the windows of the surrounding grey brick buildings are listening is anyone’s guess.
While some see protesters as a small voice among many forms of citizen engagement, others believe they have a crucial voice in influencing federal government policy.
“They don’t have very much power,” says Jason Kenney, a Canadian Alliance MP from Calgary. “Protests are one of many elements that help define public opinion, but usually protesters are people with highly motivated opinions that tend to be on the extreme of particular issues. So, politicians in general, and the government, look more closely at polling as an expression of where people are.”
Kerry Pither, a community activist in Ottawa for 10 years, sees it differently.
“I think protesters wield a significant amount of power. I think that’s been made clear lately with the government’s position on the war in Iraq. I think that was very much influenced by the number of people who came out in Canada.”
Pither became convinced that protesters can influence the government when she was a member of the East Timor Alert Network. Through Access to Information requests, the network found out that Indonesian President Suharto was considering not coming to the APEC meetings of 1997 because of their efforts.
Then-international affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy pointed out to Suharto that such an act would be giving the network a victory. Suharto agreed and ended up coming to Canada.
“If you had ever asked me if we really had an impact on Axworthy, Suharto or foreign policy, I would’ve said ‘no way.’ As it turns out, we had a direct and powerful impact. And it was a huge surprise to all of us,” Pither says.
“Throughout history, social justice movements, people and individual citizens haven’t recognized enough how much power we have to impact on government policy.”
More recently, the question of whether protesters helped influence the decision to keep Canada out of the war in Iraq is still open for debate.
“I passionately believe that public protests and demonstrations do influence what goes on in this place,” says Libby Davies, NDP MP for Vancouver East. “I think the anti-war rallies are an example of that. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Liberal government has to be influenced by large rallies. I think it was a strong contributing factor.”
John Bryden, an Ontario Liberal MP, believes protests have an impact, but stops short of calling them a contributing factor. “The protest has fortified the government’s position on Iraq. The protests and marches have been a very positive force for parliament’s position on the issue.”
However, Bryden says he doesn’t believe the protests actually influenced the decision.
“I was resolved long ago, and I would say the majority of the government caucus was resolved long ago, that going to war without the support of the UN Security Council was a bad idea. We didn’t need protests to come to that view.”
Jon Pammett, a political scientist at Carleton University, says protests would have more impact if they were comprised of different people.
“Protests would probably have more weight if they’re seen not to be the product of a particular interest group but a more general cross-section of the public.”
Kenney and Bryden agree MPs pay attention to protests that attract people from all walks of life — as was the case with the anti-war protests — rather than “professional protesters.”
“When protests attract large numbers of normally passive voters — middle class, suburban folks who aren’t easily motivated — that’s when politicians pay the most attention,” says Kenney.
Bryden agrees. “It’s not just the protest, but who’s protesting. Certain special interest organizations have no credibility on the Hill.”
Persistence is also key, says Davies. “You can’t point to one rally and say it is going to change the government’s mind. It’s the fact that week after week, month after month, these massive anti-war demonstrations have been taking place. That does have an influence, there’s not a shadow of doubt in my mind.”