Today saw federal Green leader Elizabeth May add her two cents to the provincial election. May visited Fredericton with David Coon and a chorus of Green candidates for a very impromptu rally held at the Irock Bar. Turnout seemed good, though there was virtually no media present. The party offered free corn and coffee to people just prior to the soap box speeches. There were people banging tambourines and dancing to pop music. Others gave out pins and pamphlets. A reporter for CBC/Radio Canada desperately searched the crowd for a francophone (we did see her find at least one). CTV appeared to make a brief visit.
Once inside the bar, spirits seemed to lower considerably. There was only a brief wait before May and Coon entered, hand in hand to a short burst of applause. The crowded room then returned to a state of near silence. The first speaker was a young gentleman who couldn’t be heard. In an embarassing turn of events, the sound equipment wasn’t set up properly and the speaker went through ten minutes of testing the mic, shouting across the room and even using a bullhorn. Once he could finally be heard, he attempted to stir the room which looked more like a somber St. Patrick’s day funeral. Only a few polite people clapped.
The next speaker was David Coon’s wife, and member of the Green shadow cabinet, Janice Harvey. Harvey also experienced painful technical difficulties at several points during her bevy of memories involving May. At one point, campaign workers could be seen waving Harvey down when she became sidetracked and began reminiscing about the late Pierre Trudeau toppling the Joe Clark government more than thirty years ago.
Screens throughout the bar then went to video of Elizabeth May taking VIA Rail trains across the country, but another technical issue muted the sound for the first half of the long introductory video.
Once the video was over, May took the podium. The most concise speaker of the day, May reminded the university town of the importance of the student vote. She stressed the need for students to help each other understand the process, find the polls, and get out there to do their civic duty. She took the opportunity to attack Stephen Harper and the “Fair Elections Act”. May suggested that Green supporters tell female cashiers at grocery stores that this year they are voting Green. May urged New Brunswick to break free of old-party dictators and wake up; in so doing they would wake up the country.
The room finally began to come alive at this point, but still rather conservatively compared to other rallies and party picnics during the election period. While few clapped and even fewer cheered, many were watching their phones and checking watches. Campaign workers donned in green hustled about the room and tried in vain to get pockets of the audience fired up.
Like a political pro, May steamed on with passion and arms open. She recounted stories of media outlets mocking her chances of winning her seat in Saanich-Gulf Islands. She told a tale about a radiohost who told her she couldn’t get elected dog catcher. May said that she knew better, that she could feel a change coming. She said that she feels that change in New Brunswick. May stated a firm belief that David Coon could be the first elected Green MLA east of Vancouver Island.
A brief, weak chant of “David, David” started but ended just as suddenly.
Elizabeth May then announced the need for money. She asked that even if you had already donated, to donate again. When the room got cold she moved on to another story about Bruce Hyer crossing the floor to join the Green caucus and how members of the federal NDP voiced concern over being “customer service agents” but were comfortable with that status in the end. She said that Ottawa is not like the Frank Capra film “Mr Smith Goes to Washington”.
May then talked about the important of a myriad of free voices in parliament and the legislature. She invoked Sir John A. Macdonald and his sentiment of MPs being loose fish.
As Elizabeth May stepped down, the screens went to a video collection of images and videos, news clippings, and family photos of a young David Coon with a full head of hair. The video went over the course of Coon’s career in environmentalism and activism. There were a few awkward photos of young Coon in the shower with a set of hair ensconced abdominal muscles spliced in as well.
Coon stepped up at the closing of the video tribute and may have received an even warmer applause than May herself. He quickly went over the Green platform points; local economy, agriculture, improving living conditions for those on government assistance, and renewable energy. He joked and smiled. He discussed the severity of the sitaution in New Brunswick and how things have to change. Coon then enjoyed a more engaged “David, David” chant.
That was when Coon invited every campaign worker, staffer, and candidate up to the makeshift stage. As staffers and candidates moved up to the stage, one by one, by name; the room emptied. The well intended act revealed that nearly half of those in attendence were not supporters, voters, or undecideds; they were the Green Party itself. Now, the three-quarter empty room gazed up at the crowded stage with the all too familiar mellowness. The applause from the floor decreased little by little as the faces in the audience made their way to Coon’s side.
Poorly prepared rally aside, it is worth mentioning the flood of Green lawn signs that peppered the Fredericton hill when coming into Fredericton. Green signs outnumbered any other party in the riding. It was clear that Coon is well liked by those in the crucial riding. On top of lawn signs which could be found on nearly half the lawns passed, the party has a series of large signs sporting Coon’s smiling face all across town. Of all the towns and cities we have been to since the campaign started, none have seen the level of fondness nor support for the Green Party as Fredericton.
Perhaps the change which May and Coon so often referred to really is coming.
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