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The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday March 6, 2002 - A3 Organizers told protesters to keep demonstration peaceful By Angela Blackburn O A K V IL L E H E A V E R S T A F F Protesters -- who gathered at an Oakville Social Justice Forum at Glen Abbey Recreation C entre p rio r to M onday's Progressive C onservative leadership debate -- got a taste of the police presence they were in for later that n ig h t In addition to an array of speeches, the Oakville Social Justice Forum served up chili and coffee to those in attendance. However, the crowd, most of them youths decked out in black clothes and army fatigues, had to make their way past about two dozen Halton Regional Police officers just to get inside. Six police officers guarded each of the recreation centre's entrances while police cruisers, vans, even unmarked cars and vehicles full of police officers sat outside. "They have paddy wagons and every thing. We didn't expect that." said Sean Cain. Oakville organizer for the Ontario Common Front (OCF). a loose associa tion of social justice groups. Police were out in full force because the OCF is also associated with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). the group involved in numerous protests including a Toronto street demonstration where a U.S. flag was burned and the Royal York Hotel spraypainted. The forum ran from 3-5 p.m. and attracted about 50 people. They gathered at the forum before making their way north on Third Line where they met up with more protesters at Dundas Street. From there, they walked to the PC lead ership debate at St. Volodomyr's Cultural Centre. While leaflets had been distributed last week encouraging protesters to bring hockey sticks for a street hockey game on Dundas Street only one person arrived with a stick at the recreation centre. Some placards at the centre read The Puck Stops Here and Face Off Against The Tories. Social Justice Forum speakers includ ed include John Wilson, of the Ontario Peter C. McCusker* Oakville Beaver (A bove) O S S T F p re sid e n t Joe H arw ood speaks to dem onstrators at the Oakville Social Justice F orum at the Glen Abbey Recreation C entre p rio r to their protest at the O ntario PC leadership debate. (Left) Among those in the audience w ere Je a n Sim pson and Wendy Schau, m em bers of the perform ance group, the Raging G rannies. Electricity Coalition; Peter Kormos. NDP MPP for Niagara Centre; Joe Harwood of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), local president; Willie Lambert, president of the Oakville and District Labour Council; and Bernard Eccles, a writer with Mobilization for Global Justice. Also present were Halton's Raging Grannies, an outspoken performing group. Kim Darby, a high school teacher at Peter C. McCusker- Oakville Beaver Burlington's M.M. Robinson High School and a member of the OSSTF District 20. arrived early to scout out the situation. "Initially, we were coming here in support of concerns of the students, but we have no intention if there's a violent element of participating in the march," said Darby. However, by 3:30 p.m.. Darby said the crowd at the forum was relatively "mainstream" and OSSTF president Joe Harwood went ahead as a speaker. While Wilson told youths of the ills of privatizing electricity -- an agenda he said both Tories and Liberals share -- Eccles. a Toronto-based activist told the youths they were there to "speak to power" at the protest and that they could make a difference. "We're here to let the Tory power know we don't agree, we'll not put up with it and we'll resist as long as neces sary." said Eccles. Signs posted around the room protest ed workfare, the corporate agenda, and noted the needs of the children, poor, workers, environment, health system, elderly and students. "The Tory agenda is rooted very deeply in a community like Oakville," Lambert told the youths. Noting average family income is $80,000 in the community, Lambert said the large middle class "are the main sup porters of this filth, this anti-human agen da." Lambert said protesters needed to get through to the Oakville community, "where people are interested in filling the minivan with Costco products." Yet Lambert said it takes a great deal more talent to flesh out an alternative than merely to criticize. "What's important today is that we show opposition in full and complete sol idarity. but do it in a very law abiding way. It's understandable that some may want to do something more than that, but we have to move the mentality of the masses and do what we do in an effective way," said Lambert, adding, "We want to do it in a constructive way." Demonstrators cut short protest outside debate (C o n tin u e d fro m p a g e A 1 ) Worker dies from injuries A 44-year-old Mississauga man died Saturday after succumbing to the lifethreatening injuries he received in a workplace accident in Oakville last Wednesday night. Hien Van Ly, of Mississauga, was seriously injured around 5:34 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27 while working at F.K. Peterson Tools on Cornwall Road. Ly was working a machine press when he received an injury to the left side of his head and Halton Regional Police and Halton ambulance respond ed. Halton police spokesperson Sgt. Val Hay said the machine press had kicked out a large piece of steel that hit Ly directly in the face. The man was taken to OakvilleTrafalgar Memorial Hospital and then transferred to Hamilton General Hospital in critical condition. Last Saturday, March 2, Ly of Mississauga, succumbed to his injuries. The Ministry of Labour was investi gating the accident and have now been notified of the death. It's usual practice for an inquest to be held in any work place injury resulting in death. from as far away as Scarborough and Hamilton. One protester from Hamilton, calling himself Rich Irony, said his group's presence at the sixth and final public debate on the PC leadership was impor tant. "I am here to protest the fascist gov ernment here in Ontario and the general neo-liberal policies," he said. When asked what makes the current govern ment fascist, the protester replied that its focus on promoting corporate values and using the media to spread its mes sage contributes to his anti-govemment beliefs. Less than an hour after arriving at the debate site, the protesters decided to end their demonstration and paraded back east along Dundas Street. Police remained in the area, securing the site until the debate concluded. Dundas Street was closed between Neyagawa and Bronte Roads during the debate. 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