For you new readers? Bernard Lord was in power and the Liberal were in opposition.
Before I began the long return trip to the Capital, I met an old friend of mine, we were chatting about my protest. Another friend who I haven’t seen in years, was standing by. His name is Delbert and he’s a very very talented musician in Saint John.
I noticed that Delbert was paying close attention to my stories. He was very surprised once he
heard about what I was doing. He told me that he has a son with ADHD and the school system isn’t treating him with respect or understanding.
He continued by saying that one morning his son was a little out of control. The teacher stood
up in front of the class and shouted- "Young Jimmy? Did you take your Ritalin this morning?"
I told the musician that I’ve heard this story on many occasions and that’s what I’m all about. I’ll fight till my dying day for the rights of the kids.
I didn’t like my little vacation in Saint John because my girlfriend Pat was still taking care of her son, and his drug habit was getting worse every day. He was out of control and I didn’t have the patience to deal with it.
People with ADHD are well known for their quick temper, this was the main reason that I was
protesting. I took a bus to the Western Part of the City and began to hitch a ride to the Capital. It was hot and I had a very difficult time getting a ride.
I said to myself, "am I ever going to make it." I love hitch hiking because I can relax and you meet some very interesting people on the road. This time around, I wasn’t so relaxed because I knew that my tent was gone and I didn’t really know what to expect once I arrived at the Legislature.
It was over two months and no media coverage and I wasn’t going to give up my hope now. After over one hour and thirty minutes, I finally got a drive and they were driving right to the
front of the Legislature.(Lucky for me!)
They were a couple from the North Side and they were very friendly. We made a stopover at a store and I saw my story in the Daily Gleaner. Heather, interviewed me on the Friday
before I left and we chatted for over an hour. I didn’t trust the Irving media, so I told her
to do me a favour before she left, I told her that when she does the story, "Don't write
about Charles, write about the kids."
Would she follow my advice?
I bought the Daily Gleaner and I was on the second page and she did a wonderful job. I could no longer condemn the local media because my story is finally out to the public and little did I know that it would make myprotest much easier.
Once at the Legislature, the e-mail that Dan Bussieres sent me was true. My tent was gone. I looked around and it sure looked empty without my little part-time home. I walked to the
Legislature and asked the Commissionaire to see the Sergeant At Arms.
He told me that Dan left early and he wouldn't return until morning. I was down and
confused.
I decided to go and check my e-mail at the Post Office. Someone shouted at me, it was Kevin
Bissett from Boardcast News.
I’ve known Kevin for over 10 years, he told me that he had seen Dan and three other guys from Supplies and Service remove my tent.
He asked me if I knew where my tent was?
A few minutes later, I was surrounded by more media personnel. They also asked me where my tent was.
I answered- "You tell me!"
They told me that a homeless guy was seen in my tent. I told the media that I have a buddy named Marc who lives under a bridge and he’s been keeping me company for 40 days.
I was very grateful for that! He stayed in my tent over night. I asked him to watch my little
home while I was gone.
Shannon Hagerman, a Reporter asked me what was in my bag?
I told the reporter from the Daily Gleaner that I brought some clothes with me from Saint John. I did my laundry, even a protester has to stay clean!
I noticed someone watching all the excitement, it was my old friend Hylene D’Aigle.
She’s the girl who gave me the key to her apartment while she visited Montreal. I mentioned her to the media but they seem more interested in my tent.
Thank God that Kevin Bissett witnessed the entire incident because this gave me more media attention.
It was the Sergeant At Arms from Quebec against Charles the Acadian. Sounds like the battle of the Plain of Abraham all over again. But it’s the battle of the French cultures, just like Fort Latour! I knew that Dan, just came from a Sergeant At Arms convention in Ontario. Maybe while drinking some cheap wine with other Sergeant of Arms, the issue of me came up and the others advised him on what to do with me. All my belonging were gone and I felt helpless.
Dan could have stuck around to talk to me, but he was gone and he had all my belongings. Marc came to the scene and told me that he was told to leave the grounds of the Legislature.
He added that Paul (Wanna be Jesus) was also present.
The sun set in behind the mountains and I was sitting on a curb with Marc. It was there
that I realized that they took everything. I mean everything! He never even left a chair for me, so that I could take a moment to figure things out. I was getting very upset and the girls who cleaned the legislature,(Tammy and Ethel) knew it.
All I said was,"YOU WAIT TILL THE MORNING! YOU WAIT!!" I noticed a vehicle parked in front
of the Legislature and there was Jason and Colleen.
I could tell by the looks on their faces that they were very concerned that my tent was gone and prayed with me to continue the battle. This couple have a 4 year old, and he's being assessed by the so-called system at this current time! Suggestions of Ritalin use have been mentioned. They were great supporters of my fight for the kids. They pleaded with me to continue and gave me a tent.
It’s about the same as the old one. I thanked them very much and I couldn’t wait to see the look on Dan’s face once he saw a new tent in front of the Legislature.
My old tent was green, this one was blue. Hey, I needed a change of color! That evening of August 18 was very cold. Dan could have left me with a blanket.
I didn’t sleep good at all and I was wondering if the media was going to cover the story that my tent had been removed.
The next morning, I woke up with the Crow. I didn’t need a alarm clock with that noisy crow around. I had my coffee and waited to see the Sergeant At Arms. I know that I have a bad temper and I was going to remain calm, cool and collected. It has been quite a last 24
hours and I’ll admit that I am very tired at that point.
Pretty hard to sleep when you don’t have your blanket. I guess that I’ll have to go at the
Salvation Army and explain to them what happened to me. Hey, you never know, maybe the media will return if they met those honest volunteers at my tent. I noticed a few people are honking their horns in support of me, and many people are coming to my tent.
It was a different approach now, because the public finally knew about me and they came to visit me with their concern about ADD/ADHD! L’Acadie Nouvelle made another good story about my tent being stolen and this time it was directed to the fine couple who gave me their tent. I felt guilty to take their tent, but they told me to continue the fight! The picture in the French Paper was the couple son Michael. He’s a young child who’s teacher suggested that he be assessed because of his high energy. we all know where this will lead...to the recommendation of Ritalin. The mother refuses and to use Ritalin on her child, and that's good.
Paul Harpelle a reporter from Global News gave me his card and told me that if The Sergeant at Arms-Dan Bussiere pulls another stunt like that again, I should call him as soon as possible.
I like Dan, he’s a good guy but he has a job to do. What the heck was he thinking when he
took my tent?
Finally the moment arrived when Dan walked out of the Legislature. My first pharse was-"MA
MAUDIT RAPASE!!!" (Don’t even ask me to translate.)
He had a smile on his face and he knew that I was upset. He told me that the reason he removed my tent was because there were two homeless guy around my tent. I told him that Marc was a friend of mine, and that I asked him to stay at my tent and take care of my things for me, while I was away.
Dan told me that there was another guy around.
I asked Dan if by any chance, if it was the guy approaching us us from behind him. He turned and said- "Yes,That’s the guy!"
It was Paul, AKA Jesus and I know that Dan is a Religious man so I knew this was going to be a very interesting meeting. I introduced them to each other while I was sitting on the front steps of the Legislature. Dan continued to talk to me encouraging me to leave.
Of course, he wanted to know where I got a tent so fast, I told him that there’s more tents where this one came from that if he chose to remove this tent as well. I was in negotiation with the Native to built a tee pee.
He asked me if I was joking, I told him "with me you never know." While Dan pleaded with me to leave, Paul, AKA Jesus, came out with this Phrase. "You said that the Government owns the land but this isn’t true because God owns the land."
Dan quickly turned his attention to the preacher. I said to Dan- "Hey Dan? He’s good eh?"
The look on Dan’s face was funny. Dan decided not to debate with the stranger and continued
by telling me that no campers are allowed on the ground of the Legislature.
Paul,AKA Jesus, said- "That man isn’t a camper! He’s a protester for the children!"
Once again, Dan stared at the guy. I repeated myself and said- Pretty good eh Dan? I like this guy! I told Dan that I bet that he believed that he was a homeless guy but now he should have known that he has nothing to worry about.
Marc and Paul,AKA,Jesus are allowed around my tent. I am very grateful to Dan Bussiere because he attracted the media like no one did. I waited over 40 days to spread my message and Dan did it in a couple of minutes. I have to give credit where it’s due. The media had ignored me but
once the staff at the Legislature interfered with my freedom of speech, They moved in for the kill!
I am certain that Dan never expected this reaction from the media and I must admit that I didn't either. As long media watches over Government, everything should be ok.
I could no longer say bad things about the Evil Irving Papers because they did a fantastic
job covering my stolen tent.
On August 19, I had close to 1,700 names but with the media coverage, I was certain that I could reach the 2,000 goal without any problems. Dan met the guy who preached to me about God and it was funny!
How could he cause any debate now?
I noticed that Dan stared at him with a surprised look on his face trying to figure out what was going on here. I pointed to the guys shoulder with a blank look on my face and said- "I
like this guy! He’s good!" It was funny! Well…That’s about it, God knows what is going to happen. I didn’t sleep good at all and I think that I might go asked the Salvation Army for some blankets,
I can no longer go to the soup kitchen, Pray that my new tent is still there!! LETS HOPE THAT OUR RIGHT TO SPEAK OUT ISN'T GONE IN THIS PROVINCE!
