A crowd gathers to listen to speaker Donna Balas on issues with the current education system at the AWARE Call to Action on Saturday.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Concerned citizens, experts and passersby gathered on the steps of city hall Saturday to spark discussion on the current political climate in the province.
Citizens group AWARE organized a call to action in accordance with a province-wide day of protest against recent UCP policy, though their goal was more in order to help educate fellow residents about issues they’re observing.
“Everything went really well,” said organizer Anna Hansen. “Our speakers were amazing. They really had the crowd engaged, people didn’t have any issues.”
She estimated roughly 100 people were at the event at its peak, with many people coming and going throughout the two hours of planned speakers. As the event did happen at the same time as the Rise Up festival, there was plenty of traffic in the area, which Hansen believed helped draw people in to listen, even if they only stayed for one or two speakers.
Speakers covered a wide range of topics, from education to the personal impacts of the drug crisis from local faces such as Kym Porter, as well as the debut of Medicine Hat chapter of the Raging Grannies, who perform songs altered to fit current political issues.
“Some people were more specifically interested in certain things, like, CPP was a big one,” said Shelley Ewing, AWARE member. She added that some of the most impactful were the personal stories, which drew large, silent crowds.
“When you hear their stories and they’re personal, what that went through, I think that impacts people. So I think it went well,” said Ewing. “We just appreciate people listening to us because that’s what we want. We want people to have informative, respectful dialogue, so that they can consider the bigger picture of what’s happening in Alberta.”
One of the biggest things AWARE wants people to think about is the fact that Canada is a democracy, and they believe some of these recent policies are undemocratic.
“We’re not trying to tell people who to vote for, just know who and what you’re voting for, and know what is acceptable under democracy. Some of the things that are happening are just not acceptable,” said Ewing.
For a debut event, the group considers the event a great success, and encourages those interested in what is happening in the province to stay tuned for future events.
