Q&A with ex-Senate page Brigette DePape on her ‘Stop Harper’ victory

Brigette DePape did a pretty ballsy thing when she was 21 years old. While working as a page on Parliament Hill, she held up a sign that read “Stop Harper” during the June 2011 throne speech.

After being promptly thrown out and fired from her job, the then University of Ottawa student faced a daunting task of making a place for herself after gaining national attention.

In those four years that saw many anti-Stephen Harper campaigns, DePape has focused on activism, protesting against oilsands developments and the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

For the past year, she’s worked as the youth vote campaigner with social action organization Council of Canadians. Her role took her across the country with the Game Changers Tour, which focused on getting young people, particularly university students, involved in the election and out to the polls.

The activist spoke to Yahoo Canada News about how her life has changed since her infamous protest and how she feels about the upcoming changes in government.

Q: Can you take me back to that day: What prompted you to make such a brazen move?

I was working as a page in the Senate and my job was to give water to parliamentarians.

At that time I felt really discouraged and disempowered by the Harper government, which was spending billions of dollars on fighter jets and cutting corporate taxes, making it harder for the average person to get by. They were expanding the tarsands and pipelines rather than taking bold action against climate change and making sure green jobs were a priority. They were also trampling on the rights of indigenous people. At that time I felt like the government was going against the will of the majority of people.

At that time, I was very scared since it’s not in my nature to do something like that. But I felt like I had to do it, especially when I thought about the people who are most impacted.

Q: Have you ever interacted with Stephen Harper?

Actually I have. (Before the incident) I had seen him at a movie theatre. I went to see an Ellen Page movie and I saw Stephen Harper. There was so much I wanted to tell him. I wanted to say that I felt like he was going against the will of the majority of people in this country. There were so many things going through my mind.

I did go up to talk to him and couldn’t say any of it. I blanked and I think I shook his hand. I didn’t have the courage to say anything.

It was really meaningful for me in Parliament that day when I held up the Stop Harper sign to step where I wasn’t suppose to step and take that action.

Q: Do you feel like you started a movement?

I feel like I’m part of a movement. I feel like before doing that action in the Senate, I felt really alone, and I felt really afraid. Then after doing the action in the Senate, I feel like I found a voice and I feel like I found a place in this incredible movement that believes in a very different vision for this country than the Harper Conservatives do. And that’s a vision that involves change and compassion over fear and believes in hope over fear and believes in evidence-based, policy-making.

I’m really encouraged that over the last four years there’s been a really strong movement. Seeing young people really getting engaged in demonstrations, and more recently getting involved in voting. It’s been amazing seeing young people getting out to campuses, changing the vote, changing their Facebook profile pictures to “I will vote.” Over 70,000 young people voted at advanced polling stations and there’s a real indication that young people were very active in stopping Harper. It really shows that people want change and that when we come together, that change is possible.

Q: How did you feel about this week’s election?

I feel so grateful for all the young people who came out and voted to end nine years of Conservative rule. I feel so relieved that we have created a change in government together. It gives me a lot of hope.

Q: What will you do if Trudeau doesn’t end up fulfilling his platform promises?

Right now, I feel hopeful that we have a new government and one that has good intentions and has made some strong statements about changes.

If some of those promises don’t go through, we will definitely challenge the government so that the will of the majority of people is heard and we see action on climate change, education and youth unemployment.

Right now the focus is celebrating the wonderful work and things that this government is promising and working together to make sure those things happen.