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Writer's pictureMichelle Leduc Catlin

Impressions of the Protest Site on the Hill


Most Canadians are well familiar with the gray skies, gray slush, and gray film on cars in February.


The beauty of Ottawa is hidden by all this gray right now, but when you walk through the protest site on Parliament Hill, nothing seems gray.


There is a brightness, a buzz, a benevolent spirit in the air.


People who have been forced to physically distance and mask their smiles for 2 years are overflowing with warmth and kindness.


Strangers all smile at each other, and even hug, and conversations are easily started.


There is free food from a variety of pop-up stands set up to serve the people who are there to support the return of constitutional rights, and the streets are impeccably clean.


Hand-made signs line the fence around Parliament Hill for blocks and blocks...











All this on a weekday, when the big events aren’t even happening.


There are now groups of police officers casually walking through the site, but with no obvious agenda other than making their presence known.


One officer even stopped to appreciate the beauty of the soap stone carvings by an indigenous man creating art on the street.


Children are adorned in Canadian flags, happy to be doing what they are meant to do — breath freely, play together, and see the smiling faces of those around them.





One man in a wheelchair offers poems on the spot.


His name is Larry and he has a direct gaze with clear blue eyes.


“What do you want your poem to be about?” He asked me.


I look around and I am, once again, welling up.


“Freedom, obviously. But also the sense of connectedness you feel being here.”


He looks up for a moment, then begins to write.



Within minutes, with no scribbles or corrections, he has composed this poem, which he gave me permission to share in its entirety only…



We Are All Connected


What one does affects another

Do we act in unity as lovers

To bring six degrees of separation to zero

It is not as if we do not know

That we are all connected

That all rights are connected

And denying them to just one

Really means those rights are gone

Losing the freedom for which we long

Becoming just another pretty song

If those words are not put into action

To bring all humanity into the connection

That will give us the freedom

To declare together what we believe

No matter what covenant we claim

In rights we are all the same With equality of pride and dignity

And it truly is a horrendous pity

That the things that should unite us

Are the things we fight over most

The cost to freedom is great

May we recognize our connectedness before

it is too late

And we are connected in a fate

That is an expression of hate

Let love connect us

This is what I pray and what I trust

That each one that recognizes our connectedness

Is a source for peace that will help bless us

This world one person at a time with hope

Not just for those you claim as your own

But for people of beliefs and origins far

from your home

This is the peace of God which passes understanding.


Larry Peter Klippenstein

© February 11th 2022



While our elected leaders offer ominous threats and increase police presence, the people calmly and joyfully bond with each other.


Whatever comes next, this connection can never be severed.


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