May 29 Day of Protest

The May 29th province-wide day of protest is one week away with events planned at:

• 12:00-1:30 MLA Mickey Amery's office (NE Calgary)

• 12:00-1:00 Mount Royal University (East Gate)

• 3:00-4:30 Fight Back Now March from City Hall to McDougall Ctr

• 5:30-8:00 Riley Park (bike ride starts at 6:30!)

Rationale from the MRU page:

Across the province, people are standing up to defend our shared future against a wave of recent legislative overreach. In the past eight months alone, the Alberta government has passed several pieces of restrictive legislation, including Bill 11 (introducing two-tier healthcare), Bill 12 (cutting crucial disability assistance and restructuring AISH), Bill 9 invoking the Notwithstanding Clause to strip transgender and gender-diverse Albertans of their constitutional protections, and Bill 2 (the Back to School Act), which invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to strip thousands of educators of their right to strike and collectively bargain. Alarmingly, a March 2026 Court of King’s Bench ruling dismissed an injunction challenge against Bill 2; the judge determined that the “balance of convenience” favored the province, effectively allowing the government to continue taking away fundamental workers’ constitutional rights simply as a matter of convenience rather than suspending the harmful legislation.

Add to that the fact that Danielle Smith has now made it explicit that she is the one "dragging the province and the country down [the road to separatism]" (rather than legal or political necessity). The time for a public display of collective outrage could not be more appropriate.

I have recently been inspired by Jared Wesley, a political science professor at the U of A. In his post What Can We Do? he emphasizes how crowds at public rallies are essential in countering the populist illusion that "a relatively small, loud, aggrieved group" are the real mainstream, while everyone else are out-of-touch elites, special interests, or enemies within. People--including ourselves--need concrete reminders that we are not alone in our disagreement with government policies. I hope to see you there!