Story by Stephen Hui • Photo by Thomas Norman Crute
February 24, 2003
Students’ lives under the microscope
8
I
spot Heather getting on the bus in Burnaby. She sits down with her colleague Erin, a graduate student in forensic archaeology at Simon Fraser University. We are not the only people riding the 135 Stanley Park bus downtown to the anti-war rally. Across the aisle, a woman carries a sign bearing a picture of a cat and the message “Peace neow.” At Waterfront Station, a diverse crowd of people representing all sorts of backgrounds and interests greets us. Heather and Erin, dressed warmly in fleece jackets and jeans, join the masses converging at Canada Place. On the way we pass Adriane Carr, leader of the Green Party of British Columbia, distributing leaflets. I, and a couple of fellow Peak editors, follow the pair of archaeology students as they squeeze through the crowd to the doors of the office complex at Canada Place. The sound of drumming fills the air and protesters chant: “One, two, three, four! We don’t want this racist
war!” Heather sees someone she knows and goes over to say hi. She and Erin point out signs they think are a hoot: “Ass of evil” and “Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity.” Heather and Erin have come to protest the impending United States-led war against Iraq. “I think it’s a dumb idea,” Heather explains. “I just think that, you know, we’ve had enough wars and we’ve got to speak out as to why war is not a good idea. It’s not worth it.” “I feel I owe it to the Iraqi people to be here,” Erin adds, as the pair joins thousands on the march. People are dancing to the drumming all around us. Heather and Erin clap along. SFU students are everywhere. “Oh my God, there’s my old teacher from Langara!” Heather exclaims, pointing her out in the crowd. “George Bush, we know you! Your daddy was a killer too!” the marchers chant as Brynn Bourke, member services officer for the Simon Fraser Student Society, hands Heather and Erin flyers promoting a teach-in on Iraq next month. Walking down Burrard Street, we cross Georgia Street to shouts of “Peace now!” The pace slows as the crowd thickens. Heather laughs at a sign that asks, “Would Jesus bomb?” “It’s a lot of fun,” Heather says of the march. “There’s a lot of really stoned people here, as you can smell. I think it’s great that a lot of different people of different ages are all here. It really sends the message out. I think it’s not just annoying youth expressing their opinion. It’s more about a populace expressing their decision.” I ask Heather and Erin if they think mass protests can stop the war. “No,” Heather answers. “I think that once somebody has their mind set to bomb somebody, they’re going to do it regardless of what we say. But I think it’s great
that we let them know that, no, this is not a good idea and there are better ways to get your oil or whatever it is.” “I just don’t want it to go down in the history books,” Erin adds, “that people were in favour of this.” They both think the global scope of the protest is amazing. Heather tries to decipher a complex chant. Erin says it is about Chilean General Augusto Pinochet and the role of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in his repressive regime. Hotel guests talking on cellular phones watch the crowd from above and weekend shoppers stop to stare. “I wonder about the people that are standing on the side of the street watching us go by,” Erin chuckles, “if they realise that it’s not a regular parade.” We turn left on Robson Street and stop to watch the SFU Radical Cheerleaders perform a routine by the Vancouver Art Gallery. Then we head to the other side of the gallery to join the already large crowd enjoying the music of Spirit of the West. Erin, who is a teaching assistant, says she tried to interest some of her students in attending the rally by telling them the band would be playing, but to no avail. “I’d protest to stop them from playing,” Erin tells me one of her students said. The crowd, however, loves it. Heather and Erin are not the
only ones in the sea of bobbing heads and waving signs jumping, dancing, cheering, and clapping to Spirit of the West’s song “Political.” The band follows up with “Home for a Rest” because, as lead singer John Mann put it, “People for peace deserve a party.” Soon, the band finishes their set and speakers take over the stage. “This is when all the different factions preach,” Erin remarks. One speaker tells the crowd, “We’re going to stop the war.” Heather and Erin are not so sure. “I don’t know about that,” Erin comments. “It’s nice to think,” Heather agrees. Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell steps up to the microphone. The mayor tells us that the city council unanimously passed a resolution opposing military action against Iraq not backed by the United Nations Security Council. Heather cheers and whistles at this news. Next, Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, addresses the crowd. “This war will not stop terrorism,” the labour leader says. “This war is terrorism.” Having heard enough, Heather and Erin decide to leave. Heather does not find the speakers’ rhetoric very interesting and the two disappear into the crowd under a light rain.
You can reach Heather at heather@mail.peak.sfu.ca