We're a Bolshie Bunch!

When I lived in Scotland, someone once told me that I was rather "Bolshie".  Bolshie is short for Bolshevik, and it means anyone who is opinionated, contrarian, and inclined to protest - and loudly.

It wasn't meant as a compliment, but I decided to take it as one. One of the  great things I've found about living at Pacific Gardens is that there are a lot of other Bolshies here, too.

Hold a demonstration, and we'll turn out in droves (or in a baker's dozen, as we did at the Defend Our Coast event last week).  Wave a petition in front of us, and you'll soon have plenty of signatures.

Have a cause, and we'll gladly let you have your organizing meetings in our dining hall, and we'll join you around the table and bring some good rabble-rousing ideas.

So it wasn't too surprising when the Council of Canadians held its annual conference in Nanaimo the weekend of October 26-28 that we billetted four of the delegates and attended conference events.

How could we resist something with the title, "Making Waves - Sinking the Harper Agenda", whose stated goal was to fight  against Harper’s austerity agenda and mining and pipeline projects that threaten our environment in B.C.?

We joined the 900 other people who came to hear speakers Chief Douglas White, Maude Barlow, Linda McQuaig, and Bill McKibben at the public forum which opened the conference.

Several of us attended the conference workshops on Saturday, and of course, we marched with the 400 others through Nanaimo's downtown streets to protest against tankers on our coast and pipelines in our pristine wilderness.

So, if you want to rock the boat, Pacific Gardens is the place to be - Bolshies forever!

Kathryn