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Reviewed by Halifax Media Co-op editors. copyeditedfact checked [?]

When Pomp Meets Circumstance

by Miles Howe

HALIFAX - Worlds seemed to collide today outside the Nova Scotia Legislature as the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) local 22, the IWK Health Care Workers, staged a protest over recent cuts to youth-care workers, at the same time as the Lieutenant-Governor  was set to deliver a speech from the throne.

The early afternoon rally saw a group of about 65 members of NSGEU and their allies, complete with placards, a great dane in a cape and bow tie, and a generator-fueled sound system bumping out such classic hits as Chumbawumba's "I Get Knocked Down," vying for attention with the Stadacona Air Force Base Military Brass Band, in full dress uniform, playing numerous versions of "O Canada." As lines of soldiers paraded past with bayonnets unsheathed and pointed skyward, protestors decried the fact that the recent cuts to youth-care workers will mean that mental rehabilitation programs at the IWK will no longer be offered on a 24/7 basis, and that young people involved in such programs will be expected to put their rehabilitation on hold starting Friday afternoons at 3pm, to restart again on Mondays.

The opportunity for a camera-friendly meet-and-greet was not lost on MLAs from Nova Scotia's opposition parties, on hand for the pomp and feathered hat routine of the Lieutenant Governor's speech. And while Maureen MacDonald, NDP Minister of Health, certainly was not anywhere near the protestors who see her as at least partially responsible for the current government's lack of a "Mental Health Strategy," members of the opposition clutched hands with the protestors as television cameras fluttered close by. PC leader Jaimie Bailie was there. Liberal leader Stephen MacNeill was also there, as were several others. Whether these sunny day photo opportunities translate into championing the cause of local 22 on the floor of the Legislature remains to be seen.

Please enjoy the photos from today's rally.

 

 

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Topics: Direct ActionHealth
Tags: mental healthIWKNSGEUThrone SpeechNDPNova Scotia NDPMaureen MacDonaldJamie BaillieStephen MacneilNova Scotia Politics#nspoli
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Comments

W.P.M.C

Submitted by ShellBack on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 08:12.

You mention a demonstration outside the Nova Scotia Legislature and the presence at the ceremony of "the Stadacona Air Force Base Military Brass Band, in full dress uniform, playing numerous versions of O Canada"... 

The band actually is the Stadacona Band of the Royal Canadian Navy and Stadacona, as a Base, is a Naval facility (note the many ships tied up at the Dockyard directly below it, not an F-18 in sight).  

As for "numerous versions of O Canada"... there's only one.

The Stadacona Band has been a very prominent fixture in Halifax since 1940, that's 72 years.  I'm sure they'd appreciate having their correct name used.

Right you are.

Submitted by Miles Howe on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 08:39.

Well there you go, wrong name for the brass band, my mistake. As far as different versions of Oh Canada, there certainly are a variety of shortened and elongated versions that get rolled out depending on who or what they're addressed to. For the lieutenant governor, for example, there's an abridged version, etc., etc.

W.P.M.C

Submitted by ShellBack on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 09:52.

Right You Are...  :-)

 

The abridged version played for the Lt.Gov is called Vice-Regal Salute... the first half contains 7 bars of God Save the Queen and the 2nd half has 8 bars of O Canada. 

Mistakes happen, not to worry.  Btw, it's a brass And reed band...they have woodwinds.  :-)

Thanks for the response Miles.  Good to know these comments actually get read by the Authors.

Cheers.

 

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