Posts Tagged ‘demonstration’

the back of a man whose baseball cap says Toronto on the back and his black jacket says Ontario on the back

May Day, the 1st of May.  In some countries it is International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day, and is often a holiday (similar to the first Monday in September that is celebrated as Labour Day in Canada and the USA).   This May 1st there was a protest in front of Queen’s Park to protest some of the recent policies announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his provincial Conservative party.

 

below: UnaFORDable DOUG and CONservative CONS

people carrying protest signs at a rally

below: Cheering for a clownish Doug Ford as premier, the first clown we’ve had.

a man in an orange wig and clown costume holds a sign on pink bristol board that says Hooray! Our first clown premier

below: Let them drink beer.  Doug Ford as Marie Antoinette (how did he fit into the dress?!)

a woman holds up a sign at a protest that says let them drink beer. with a picture of Doug Ford as Marie Antoinette

below: …. and at Rock bottom prices folks!

at a Queens Park demonstration on May day, a woman holds a red and white for sale sign with the word Ontario written in the blank, for sale Ontario

below: Oink oink, Ford with a pink snout

three people at a protest in Toronto, woman on right is yelling, man on left has a camera on a tripod and man in middle is holding a sign with a picture of Doug Ford's face with a pig snout that says Our futures are not yours to fuck with, greedypig, #greedypig

below: Signs.  “You know it’s time for change when children act like leaders and leaders act like children.”

a few people with home made placards at an anti-Ford May day protest

below: A poop emoji makes an entrance

a person holds up a sign that is a drawing of Doug Ford's head with a poop emoji on top of his head

below: That’s a good reason to revolt!

a woman in a blue coat and black beret holds a sign that says We're having a revolt because the PC's are so revolting

below: Rapping to the crowd

a young black man is performing a rap song in front of a crowd at a protest

below: Bees and trees not sleaze….and some important facts about mental health and youths in the province.

protest signs at a rally including one that says Bees and trees not sleaze

below: You have been warned!  Beware! Killing two birds with one stone,  Entrepreneurs at TugaDoug.com advertize their product while protesting.  Follow the link to order yours for $19.95

Warning! Beware of Doug says a sign, with picture of Doug Ford on it. Another sign says My pug would make a better premier

below:  Standing near the front of the crowd were these three people with their three different issues –   For Ontario’s Rich Developers,  concern for trees (cancellation of the tree planting initiative), and the threats to health care.

three people at a protest, a woman in an orange coat holding a sign that says I speak for the trees, a man in a yellow jacket with a sign that says Don't take away our health care. and a younger woman with two signs, one is a play on the word Ford so it says For Ontarios Rich Developers where the first letters of those 4 words are emphasized F O R D

below: “Give me the birds and the bees please.”

a woman holds a protest sign that says Give me the birds and the bees please

below: Books not beer

a woman holds a sign that says books not beer

below: “Let’s show our government that we refuse to regress.”

a group of artists with bright yellow and light green signs walks as a group towards a protest in front of Queens Park, the woman at the front also has a sign on a stick that says We refuse to regress

below: Get organized instead of panicking!

in the middle of a protest crowd, a woman holds up a sign that says Don't panic, organize

Maybe I’ll see you at the next protest?

Yesterday there was a large protest in front of Queens Park. Thousands of people from around the province gathered to demonstrate against Doug Ford and his Conservative party proposed cuts to education funding. It was so crowded that you couldn’t move through the center of the park in front of the parliament buildings. So many people were arriving by TTC that there were line-ups just to get out of Queens Park station. Buses, some say 170 arrived from out of town, were parked on both sides of Queens Park Circle. In the beginning, the road was open but police soon closed it along with some of the other streets in the area. Here are some of the people and the signs they carried:

below: Time to use our outside voices. There were lots of families with kids there.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, child on adult shoulders.Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Ford Faild. Ours to recover. There were a number of signs that played on the licence plate motif as one of the things that Ford wants to change is the motto on the plates.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding,

below: Queens Park from the east.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park, seen from the east side, with the statue of Queen Victoria in the middle

below: The protest was organized by 4 unions. Many people carried pre-printed signs but there was an abundance of hand made signs in the crowd as well.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: From Kitchener, a “Cuts Hurt Kids” sign.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, child on adult shoulders.

below: Another licence plate: “Importanter than education”.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, sign is made to look like an Ontario licence plate, Ontario making cuts

below: Drug Ford is a villain in big letters

two hand made signs on brown cardboard, one says we are the future and the other says Doug Ford in the villain.  Both drawn and made by kids and being held by kids.   Queens Park education budget protest

below: Oosteroff’s mom would be very busy.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Queens Park Circle, south end. Buses letting passengers/protesters off.

below: Job losses aren’t saved by retirements, they’re stolen from the young work force.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Think before it’s illegal. Tax cuts for the rich or cuts to education?

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Those who can teach, those who can’t become premier of Ontario.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Art matters.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, says art matters. Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: I’ve seen better cabinets at IKEA

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, I've seen better cabinets at IKEA

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Communication means talking and listening.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: The statue of Sir John A. Macdonald stands beside a sign that depicts the Conservative caucus as Doug Ford’s puppets. Ford pulls the strings and they all dance along.

below: Kids are cool, cuts are cruel. We are the future, the future needs funds.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: #cutshurtkids in colour

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, child on adult shoulders. signs says #cutshurtkids painted by hand

below: A great visual for DoFo flushing our education.

person holding a toilet seat protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, words written on seat say DoFo flushing education

below: A math question? How many one dollar beers is education worth?

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, back to camera, with a group of men, sign says how many dollar beers is education worth

below: Ford Wars, may the budget be with you

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, signs says Ford Wars

below: Fordnation has no imagination – unlike this sign.

child on adult shoulders. person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding,

below: Give me back my education Doug! and another Yours to Recover.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Climbing trees for a better view

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Another attempt at a crowd shot.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Size does matter and a lovely spelling mess.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

‘Demonstration’ by Michael Landry
at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery

Now showing in the narrow Fleck Clerestory is an installation that consists of a collection of red and white paintings on paper.  Each is a male and/or female shaped silhouette figure with a protest sign.    They are pinned to the wall, from top to bottom.   Every one has a different slogan, phrase and/or image on the placard they are holding.

below: Looking down on the Fleck Clerestory from the upper level.

red and white paintings of demonstration signs being held by stick figure men part of an art exhibit at fleck conservatory on both walls, looking down from the upper level to see whole exhibit, two women on the lower level looking at it.

The work has grown, i.e. more pieces have been added, since it was installed late in September.   Landry has been asking the public to contribute their thoughts and feelings which he then draws.  Over the course of the next few months, it will evolve and grow as more people submit their ideas and suggestions.   In the end there will be a “wall of protest”, or perhaps more aptly, it will be a snapshot of the hopes and concerns that we have.

below: Some of the issues addressed from the serious (stop fracking, end hate, no more marijuana arests, opioid overdoses) to the more lighthearted (such as ‘go topless day’, and ‘we the north’).

red and white paintings of demonstration signs being held by stick figure men part of an art exhibit at fleck conservatory

If you have an image, slogan, or words, and you want to participate in this project, check out the submission guidelines by following this link

red and white paintings of demonstration signs being held by stick figure men part of an art exhibit at fleck conservatory

below: “No pipeline” and  “lorsque les mots perdent leur sens, les gens perdent leur liberte”.

red and white paintings of demonstration signs being held by stick figure men part of an art exhibit at fleck conservatory - sign says no pipeline

below: “Stop premature Christmas decorating!”

red and white paintings of demonstraion signs being held by stick figure men part of an art exhibit at fleck conservatory - sign says stop premature Christmas decorations

The exhibit continues until mid-May.

 

#RiseUpTO
a protest coinciding with the PanAm Economic Summit and the PanAm Climate Summit,
both occurring at the Royal York Hotel.

The meeting place was Berczy Park, 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning.  Between 100 and 200 people showed up (I’m not very good at estimating numbers) to participate.  Photographers and reporters from all the Toronto newspapers and TV stations were on hand as were reprters from a number of radio stations.

The plan was to walk down Front Street where one group would block the intersection of Front and York while another group with block the front entrance of the Royal York Hotel.  Mission accomplished.

riseupTO demonstration and march - pedestrians cross a street with the morning sun low in the sky so the people cast long shadows towards the camera.  A group of protesters is in the background.

riseupTO demonstration and march - a group of photographers stand in front of marchers with a blue banner that reads

A construction worker in yellow & Orange work clothes and hard hat, stops work to take a photo of a passing demonstration in front of Union Station.

blog_riseupTO_royal_york

a woman is unravelling a skein of yarn and is using it to make a barrier across a city street.  She is using two hydro poles to wrap the yarn around.

a woman is unravelling a skein of yarn and is using it to make a barrier across a city street. She is using two hydro poles to wrap the yarn around.

riseupTO demonstration and march - yarn has been wrapped around hydro poles in such a way that it makes a barrier across a street.  Pedestrians are walking on their way to work on one side of the yarn while protesters have blocked part of the intersection on the other side of the yarn.

riseupTO demonstration and march - a group of young people drumming as they stand in a line in the middle of an intersection blocking traffic

riseupTO demonstration and march

riseupTO demonstration and march - two woman holding a red banner that reads 'Smash Capitalism End Colonialism'  They are standing in front of a line of peeople arm in arm infront of the Royal York Hotel front entrance.  Some police are between the protesters and the door.

riseupTO demonstration and march

a young woman with afro black hair and wearing a Bob Marley T-shirts is speaking through a megaphone at a protest march.   She is standing in front of a red and white banner that is being held up by a few other people

riseupTO demonstration and march - policemen and women stand besides their bikes as they do crowd control and direct the protest around a corner. A man is holding a black sign with white lettering that says "We find you guilty"

A security guard stands on a rooftop of a building, with taller glass skyscrapers behind him.

riseupTO demonstration and march - a line of policemen walk their bikes behind a group of protesters as they walk up Bay St. in downtown Toronto, with the clock tower of old city hall in the backbround.

riseupTO demonstration and march - protesters walking up a street, past a homeless man who is asleep on the sidewalk.  One of the protesters has just noticed the man and is pointing to him.