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Anti-war demonstrators target local weapons plant
40 protesters call on federal government to withdraw troops from Afghanistan
ROSE SIMONE, Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 6 Oct 07
Article link
Jonathan Parrott, 23, decided yesterday to raise his voice against something happening just behind his backyard.
Parrott, a Conestoga College student, lives in the subdivision behind Wilson Avenue in Kitchener, where Colt Canada Corp. is making weapons used by the military.
So he decided to join the 40 antiwar activists who showed up at the plant for an early-morning protest organized by AntiWar@Laurier or AW@L, a Rainforest Action Network group based at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.
"It is disturbing when they are making guns in your own backyard," Parrott said.
The protest was staged to make Kitchener residents aware that Colt Canada, a subsidiary of the large U.S.-based gunmaker, Colt Defence, is making weapons in the community, said Kendra Foord, a 19-year-old Laurier student who helped organize the protest.
Foord said this was her first antiwar protest.
The protesters said Colt Defence supplies guns for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is part of a military-industrial complex that is feeding the West's addiction to oil, as well as causing further damage to the environment.
They chanted in favour of immediate withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan.
Security at the plant was not tight. Two protesters managed to get on the roof of the factory, with a giant banner that said "Stop the War Machine."
Others blocked the parking lot at the plant.
But workers parked along the street and walked into the plant. There was no disruption of the work inside.
Frances Vegh, human resources manager for Colt Canada Corp., said no one was harassed, and not being able to get into the parking lot was mainly "an annoyance" for the plant's 98 workers.
"But these are just 98 people in our community who want a job," Vegh said.
"Somebody is going to supply the government, and so if these people (the protesters) want to make a statement, they should lobby the government."
The protesters have a right to give out their information and express their opinions, she said.
"But the thing we disagree with is that they are blocking our driveway, and when they are crawling up on our roof, that is trespassing."
Several Waterloo regional police officers were at the scene, speaking with the activists to get them to move off the company property peacefully.
Although most of the protesters were in their 20s, a few older activists got involved too.
"This is unusual for Laurier, so we want to encourage it," said Laurier Professor Peter Eglin, who was there to lend the students his support.
Terrence Gibson, 50, who is back in school as a religion student, "doing what I have always wanted to do" at the University of Waterloo, said he decided to join the protesters because it is important for his generation to show solidarity with the young antiwar activists.
"I have been encouraging friends of my age by saying that instead of complaining, we should be getting involved," he said.
Anti-war demonstrators target local weapons plant
40 protesters call on federal government to withdraw troops from Afghanistan
ROSE SIMONE, Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 6 Oct 07
Article link
Jonathan Parrott, 23, decided yesterday to raise his voice against something happening just behind his backyard.
Parrott, a Conestoga College student, lives in the subdivision behind Wilson Avenue in Kitchener, where Colt Canada Corp. is making weapons used by the military.
So he decided to join the 40 antiwar activists who showed up at the plant for an early-morning protest organized by AntiWar@Laurier or AW@L, a Rainforest Action Network group based at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.
"It is disturbing when they are making guns in your own backyard," Parrott said.
The protest was staged to make Kitchener residents aware that Colt Canada, a subsidiary of the large U.S.-based gunmaker, Colt Defence, is making weapons in the community, said Kendra Foord, a 19-year-old Laurier student who helped organize the protest.
Foord said this was her first antiwar protest.
The protesters said Colt Defence supplies guns for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is part of a military-industrial complex that is feeding the West's addiction to oil, as well as causing further damage to the environment.
They chanted in favour of immediate withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan.
Security at the plant was not tight. Two protesters managed to get on the roof of the factory, with a giant banner that said "Stop the War Machine."
Others blocked the parking lot at the plant.
But workers parked along the street and walked into the plant. There was no disruption of the work inside.
Frances Vegh, human resources manager for Colt Canada Corp., said no one was harassed, and not being able to get into the parking lot was mainly "an annoyance" for the plant's 98 workers.
"But these are just 98 people in our community who want a job," Vegh said.
"Somebody is going to supply the government, and so if these people (the protesters) want to make a statement, they should lobby the government."
The protesters have a right to give out their information and express their opinions, she said.
"But the thing we disagree with is that they are blocking our driveway, and when they are crawling up on our roof, that is trespassing."
Several Waterloo regional police officers were at the scene, speaking with the activists to get them to move off the company property peacefully.
Although most of the protesters were in their 20s, a few older activists got involved too.
"This is unusual for Laurier, so we want to encourage it," said Laurier Professor Peter Eglin, who was there to lend the students his support.
Terrence Gibson, 50, who is back in school as a religion student, "doing what I have always wanted to do" at the University of Waterloo, said he decided to join the protesters because it is important for his generation to show solidarity with the young antiwar activists.
"I have been encouraging friends of my age by saying that instead of complaining, we should be getting involved," he said.
