Toronto Sun

Granny group goes out on limb

November 4, 2005 

By NATALIE PONA

 

These grannies hope to use their voices for more than just singing babies to sleep.

Yesterday afternoon, seven of Toronto's Raging Grannies — in flowered hats and bright "granny" clothes — belted out songs protesting the destruction of Canada's boreal or northern forests.

"We sing for the future of our grandchildren," said Kate Chung, a member of the Grannies, a group that tackles social issues. "For all the grandchildren, we'd like to have a better world for them."

Chung, 63, was one of about 150 demonstrators who walked to Queen's Park for the "Save Canada's Boreal" march.

'SAVE OUR CARIBOU'

The march was one of 350 protests scheduled in 200 North American cities yesterday, said Leah Henderson, spokesman for ForestEthics, an environmental group that organized the protest.

Protesters want corporations, banks and the provincial government to better protect forests, Henderson said. The Ontario government is not doing enough, said John Liss, a retired lawyer.

"It's a terrible conspiracy with the logging companies and the government looking right on," Liss said.

That's not true, said David Ramsey, Ontario's minister of natural resources. The province has some of the most progressive policies on the planet, he said.

Two protesters with the Rainforest Action Network who tried to shimmy up Queen's Park's two flagpoles were escorted into the legislature's security office.