Brigette DePape is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, who was a Canadian Senate page when she disrupted the Throne speech in 2011 with a silent demonstration in the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

. She has protested other events as well causing her to be arrested in 2014.

Early life

DePape attended

Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Collège Jeanne-Sauvé (CJS) is a French-immersion high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the first French-immersion high school in western Canada. Situated in the southern St. Vital area of Winnipeg, Manitoba, it is part of the Louis Riel Scho ...

. She was a recipient of the

Loran Award LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range u ...

in 2007 in part for her association with Students without Borders: Afrique 2007 and fundraising efforts for

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Stop Harper!

While a participant in the

Canadian Senate Page Program The Canadian Senate Page Program is a student internship program for the Senate of Canada. Each year, 15 undergraduate students are chosen through a national competition to work as a page for the Senate. Pages are primarily responsible for assisti ...

in 2011, DePape stood in protest during the

Throne Speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...

in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, silently holding up a sign that said "Stop Harper!" This action led to her prompt dismissal, for breaching the non-partisan nature of the page position and disrupting the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

in Parliament. In a subsequent interview, DePape explained that she disagreed with

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

's policies. In an interview, then

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

voiced disapproval of DePape's protest, stating "We have been pushing for decorum in the House of Commons. You don't have decorum if people are standing up holding up signs in the middle of debates and solemn moments... We encourage protests... But it should be happening at the proper place and at the proper time." DePape's protest featured as the front cover illustration for the book ''Contempt of Parliament'' by Kieron Wood, published in Ireland in January 2012. A few days after her protest in the Senate chamber,

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

offered DePape a job. DePape stated that she had also received job offers from the

Public Service Alliance of Canada The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC; french: Alliance de la Fonction publique du Canada, link=no, AFPC) is one of Canada's largest national labour unions and the largest union in the Canadian federal public sector. PSAC members work in e ...

(PSAC) and the

Council of Canadians The Council of Canadians is a Canadian non-profit organization that advocates for clean water, fair trade, green energy, public health care, and a vibrant democracy. The organization is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario with regional offices in H ...

. On June 8, 2011, DePape announced the creation of a "Stop Harper Fund" to support "organizations and individuals engaging in creative non-violent direct actions against the Harper government's agenda." The fund planned to organize an advisory committee to direct funds to selected organizations, and legal and fiscal governance to ensure the donations were spent in accordance with the fund's stated mandate.

Other protests and activism

Between June 26–27, 2010, DePape participated in protests at the G20 summit in Toronto. On September 26, 2011, she took part in a protest on

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their architectu ...

against Alberta oil sands development and

TransCanada Corp. TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Corporation) is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, ...

's proposed

Keystone XL pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Albert ...

. On April 23, 2012, DePape was again silently protesting in an unofficial page uniform, this time outdoors and apparently against

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

's provincial Wildrose party, when she was photographed holding a sign reading "Stop Harper's Gang" when

Danielle Smith Marlaina Danielle Smith (born April 1, 1971) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has been serving as the 19th premier of Alberta since October 11, 2022, and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since October 6, 2022. Smith ent ...

(leader of the Wildrose party) cast her vote. On November 20, 2014, DePape was arrested as part of a protest against

Kinder Morgan Kinder Morgan, Inc. is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. The company specializes in owning and controlling oil and gas pipelines and terminals. Kinder Morgan owns an interest in or operates approximately of ...

on Burnaby Mountain, BC.

Theatre

DePape wrote the one-woman play ''She Rules with Iron Stix'', which she performed in Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon at their respective

fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

festivals, as well as the TEDxYouthOttawa conference. DePape missed her

convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a speci ...

ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

to do media interviews.

References

External links

Brigette DePape's fund to support organizations in opposition to Stephen Harper's political agenda
June 9, 2011
The CBC's Evan Solomon speaks with Brigette DePape about the incident on the Senate floor
June 3, 2011 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Depape, Brigette Living people Canadian activists People from Winnipeg University of Ottawa alumni Canadian women activists Year of birth missing (living people)