Gig Report

The Ottawa Grannies planned to “attend” a World Press Freedom Day luncheon to sing two songs lamenting the terrible contract that freelance journalists are being forced to sign by CanWest, Quebecor/SunMedia and Torstar corporations.  Sign or be fired.  The contract forces them to give up their moral and economic rights to their work.  This means that the publisher can make any changes and sell the work to anyone else with no say or compensation for the writer.   Read the contract.  And we had a writeup in the Straight Goods.

Due to the unforeseen death of the founder of World Press Freedom Day, Spencer Moore (84) the day before the event, we felt that bursting into the room and singing our satyric songs might not be suitable.

Instead, we opted for a banner that we all held and some signs placed on the floor in front of us. Given that the guests of the luncheon were entering the Panoramic Room a level above us, they had a perfect view and received the message loud and clear.

Photo by Shannon.  See more photos by Shannon.  Photos by Barb Irving

It was obvious that the NAC staff were not prepared to undergo a picket and within ten minutes, we had them so confused, they thought we were part of the luncheon invitees. Still, they had called the police by this time and just as we were calling it a day, three officers arrived.

We were given a lecture on not protesting on private property, to which we all listened intently, before leaving to set up for an additional ten minutes on the parapet outside the box office entrance. Any of the guests looking out of the windows of the Panoramic Room would have another excellent view of our message.   We will watch for other events where we can use the great songs written for this important issue.

More Activities
Home