THUNDER BAY — Activists in more than 50 Canadian cities, Thunder Bay included, were demonstrating on Saturday against the direction they see government going.
A “Draw the Line” protest was slated for noon to 1 p.m. in front of Liberal Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu’s office on Red River Road.
It was part of a nationwide set of rallies to say “we refuse to stand by while the government and Canada’s richest corporations hoard wealth, gut our public services, fuel climate collapse, attack migrants, exploit Indigenous lands and prop up a genocide in Palestine,” according to the Draw the Line website.
A local media advisory released Friday morning said the Thunder Bay demonstration was organized by Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet, Poverty Free Thunder Bay, Climate Justice Thunder Bay and 10 other groups.
The protests across Canada were to be a “historic coming together” of social, political and environmental activists “to reject the Carney agenda,” said the advisory.
Hajdu, the federal jobs and families minister, disagreed with the suggestion Prime Minister Mark Carney has steered government too much to the right.
“Well, I just don’t think in terms of left and right,” she said Friday.
“I think in terms of, pragmatically, what’s good for Canada right now. And I would just say that, look, there are going to be opinions about different actions that the government takes.
“I’ve been a minister for 10 years. I’ve certainly heard opinions from all different perspectives and all different corners over the last 10 years.
“There are obviously always decisions. In every decision, there are people that are thrilled with the decision, there are people that are less thrilled with the decision.
“I do my job with the focus on making sure that, first of all, my region gets good representation — that the communities in my riding have a voice — but secondly that I perform as a minister with the focus on ensuring the security, economic prosperity and sovereignty of Canada.
“That’s how I do my work and I’m always willing to hear from constituents. We correspond with constituents daily about decisions the government has made, and I respect in a democracy not everybody will agree.”
Thunder Bay–Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski said the Liberal government under Carney “is a little more centrist than the Trudeau government” but that’s “consistent with traditional liberal values, which are more centrist.”
He said “some people may not find our present (Liberal) party as progressive as they’d like to see it,” but the Carney government fits with “the majority of people.”
