Protest disrupts throne speech

A 21-year-old Senate page put her job on the line today in a silent call for Canadians to give some sober second thought to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s majority Conservative government.

Brigette DePape staged an unprecedented protest on the floor of the Senate chamber, walking out into the red-carpeted centre aisle carrying a red "Stop Harper" sign as Gov. Gen. David Johnston read the new government’s speech from the throne.

The University of Ottawa graduate stood silently holding her hand-painted sign for at least 20 seconds – while the vice-regal made a barely perceptible hitch in his address and a stunned room full of dignitaries and invited guests stared in mute astonishment.

With Harper, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk – among others – looking on, the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Commons finally escorted DePape out of the Senate.

Six seated justices of the Supreme Court of Canada sat in their ermine robes with their backs to DePape, seemingly oblivious to the drama unfolding three paces behind them.

DePape was nearing the end of her year-long job as a page, and the Senate communications staff said her employment has been terminated.

The stunt was well planned, with a news release popping up in the emails of Parliament Hill reporters minutes after the event.

"Contrary to Harper’s rhetoric, Conservative values are not in fact Canadian values," DePape, calling herself Brigette Marcelle, said in the release.

"How could they be when three out of four eligible voters didn’t even give their support to the Conservatives? But we will only be able to stop Harper’s agenda if people of all ages and from all walks of life engage in creative actions and civil disobedience."

Reaction from senators and MPs was decidedly cool, although Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin, a Progressive Conservative, noted that the Senate floor is supposed to be a place of free speech.