DAY 11 @ NIAGARA FALLS

Today was uncomfortably early for a few of us. 9 of us made it out to Queen's Park at 8AM with the intention of supporting Conservative MPP Christine Elliott present the petitions to the legislature. We were told that our names would be on the security list but once we got in, it turned out that they weren't there! The security guard took our ID and made passes for us (spelling a few of our names wrong, might I add! He used my middle name, Alisha, instead of Zenah, and even spelled it wrong, as you will see in the pictures!), but upon calling the room where we were supposed to go, he claimed that no one was answering. He told us to sit in the lobby and wait, and that'd he'd try again. We waited around for about a 1/2 hour, talking to a couple of other pharmacists in the same predicament. Then, a woman came down and told us that "they no longer needed our services, since the room was full." She wouldn't hear any of our arguments! Some members of our group woke up at 5:30 AM just to get there in time for this important meeting.

Dejected, we decided to kill the 2.5 hours we had left before we had to board the bus by eating breakfast and hanging out at College Park. Later, we boarded the bus and headed to Niagara Falls. Our first stop was the falls, where we were able to take some scenic group pictures. Our next stop was MPP Kim Craitor's office, where we gathered outside and protested. Although Craitor wasn't there, some students were able to speak to him by phone. It turns out that Craitor, although a Liberal, is actually in favour of the pharmacists' position!! What a breath of fresh air! It's great to see that he's not afraid to think for himself despite being surrounded by people who hold a different opinion.

This was followed by a brief session of canvassing in his area (our messaging was different: your MPP supports our position; please support him in this). One thing that we noticed, however, was that in some mailboxes there were "Stop the Cuts" brochures from the coalition targeting Kim Craitor specifically. Craitor expressed confusion, and rightly so, at these brochures in this article:
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2574032

I guess the coalition assumed that he'd be against the pharmacists just because he's a Liberal. Thank you, Kim Craitor, for standing up to the rest of your party and for your support.

Click the link below to view videos and photos from NIAGARA FALLS:

STOP CUTS @ NIAGARA FALLS