The Blog – Our Pro-active Defence

I have been reminded recently that the blog does not reflect the opinions or feelings of all of the members of Artspace. And it's good to be reminded of that. The blog exists so that those members and non-members who wish to express themselves may do so. The AUPE has made itself known in our neighborhood in some very abusive ways. I, for one, am glad to have this blog to use as a vehicle to express my thoughts.

For some time, many Artspace members tried to get people to see what the AUPE was doing in our neighborhood, but no one, it seemed, would listen.  In some ways I guess I can't really blame them for not believing what I was saying. Indeed, just hearing myself describe the activities around here sounded absurd. I mean, here I am living in a civilized world and yet my little neighborhood was being picketed by SAIL staff and paid AUPE picketers. They were yelling obscenities at people who live here, and people who visit. They were blocking vehicles coming and going into and out of the parkade and upper parking lot. They brought in an air raid siren and yelled at us through bullhorns. They carried cameras and took pictures of us; for what reason we're not sure. They invaded our neighborhood a couple of times, with loud music and many people, for unwanted and uninvited block parties. From the beginning, their behavior was so abusive that many of us felt like our summer was ruined. Many people who live here where fearful to leave their own homes. No one knew when or if they would be stopped and abused by the picketers. 

Yes, it all sounded so very absurd. Yet this is exactly what was happening, and no one would listen. So the blog was created. This was the only way that we could get our side of the story told. 

Yet, it still took about another month before anybody really believed us. It took someone from social media to bring our situation to light. Somehow, Kathleen Smith discovered our situation and our blog. She began looking into it. As she learned the truth about what was going on and how wrong it is, she began to advocate for us on Twitter and Facebook. Through her efforts, many in the general public were finally beginning to see that the situation I described earlier really was happening. She gave us some much-needed exposure. With this exposure, the AUPE ended up easing up on us quite a bit. I believe it was their attempt at damage control. After all, they couldn't have the public believing that the AUPE could be so bad. So they set up cameras and videotaped the “new quiet picket line”, and invited the public to come and see for themselves how peaceful it was.

I am thankful that it is much more peaceful outside. However, the damage has been done. I still feel stuck in my own home because of the picketers outside of it. 

Not everyone feels the same as I do, however. Some people think that since the picketers have been so quiet that we should take down our signs and stop writing on the blog. I think that would be a mistake. As long as the AUPE is picketing outside of our home, we should remain vigilant and diligent. Just because they are quiet now, does not erase the wrong they have done in the past. As I've said already, some of the damage that was done is having a lasting effect on many of us. 

Just because it is quiet does not mean we are not suffering. I believe that as long as there are picketers outside, we need to be expressing it on the blog. This seems to be our main defense. The AUPE knows that any behavior it shows on the picket line will eventually end up online. 

Perhaps this knowledge is one way to help keep the peace here at Artspace. 

I want to end this post by saying that I'm thankful to the picketers for being relatively quiet the last month or so. I do appreciate it…but I wish you weren't here at all.