Just about a year ago,

Senate page Brigette DePape

interrupted the government’s

throne speech with her first

message to Canadians: Stop

Harper. Since then, the feisty

22-year-old has expanded on

that thought. Here’s a sampling

from her star turn as a rogue

page through to her latest stint

on the Alberta campaign trail.

“Everywhere is the right place to protest

... I think we need to really challenge the

assumption that democracy happens once

every four years, when you go out and vote.

I think that real democracy happens in our

everyday lives and in our everyday actions.”

— CTV’s Question Period, June 5, 2011

ON PROTESTING IN THE SENATE:

1

“What in the end is a stop sign? It’s a nod to

the power of the street. It’s a nod to the people

who come together there to put the breaks

on the Harper government.” — speaking

to a protest outside the Conservative Party

convention in Ottawa, June 10, 2011

ON HER MOST FAMOUS ACCESSORY:

2

“Many youth are deeply concerned with the

state of our country and world, but they are

not engaged because our society tells us that

we cannot change things. When we look back

at advancements in Canada, history books tell

us that politicians won these victories for us.

This is disempowering and leaves us waiting

for the next great political leader to come

around.” — The Tyee, September 2, 2011

ON THE MYTH OF APATHY:

3

ON THE KEYSTONE XL PROTESTS IN WASHINGTON:

4

“As I stood facing the people risking arrest,

chanting with them in solidarity, I felt like

I had time-traveled back to the 1960s to the

movement that stopped the war in Vietnam. But

today we are building a movement to stop the

climate crisis.” — The Tyee, September 9, 2011

“It’s not going to get tough on crime.

It’s going to get tough on the poor, on

indigenous peoples, on those who are

most marginalized, on people with mental

health problems ... If we have to build these

prisons, I have an idea for who should be

in them. It’s Harper, and the members of

his government. Because they are the ones

who are actually doing harm on people.”

— Operation Maple video, October 5, 2011

ON THE OMNIBUS CRIME BILL:

5

“I dreamed about some kind of peaceful

uprising in Canada when I took action in

the Senate. A few months later, it began

to happen! Occupations spread across

major cities in Canada and it has been

exhilarating to partake. It is interesting

to think about the political climate in the

wake of Harper’s election compared to

now. With Occupy, there has been a major

shift in mood in Canada, from one of

inertia and defeat, to one of vibrancy and

hope.” — The Tyee, November 23, 2011

ON THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT:

6

“Based on [Environment Minister Peter]

Kent’s speech, it seems Canada has a two

step process for continuing to destroy the

climate while minimizing backlash. Step 1.

Make official that we don’t have to reduce

emissions so that we can’t face sanctions

for continuing to destroy the climate. Step

2. Try to reassure people that we are not

destroying the climate by referencing a few

bucks we’re paying for false solutions for a

problem we’ve caused.” — Canadian Youth

Delegation blog post, November 28, 2011

ON THE UN CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS IN DURBAN:

7

“I love the Jets. I always have. But there’s

something that’s happened that’s throwing

me off. It has to do with the Winnipeg Jets

logo. It’s a fighter jet. It’s a symbol of an

increasingly destructive path on which our

country is headed ... Our awesome Jets have

become free PR for Harper’s military agenda.”

— Operation Maple video, January 11, 2012

ON THE RETURN OF HER HOMETOWN HOCKEY TEAM, THE WINNIPEG JETS:

8

“If you get 39 per cent on a math test, that’s

a fail — just like the Harper government

is a failure for people in Canada. A false

majority and phony elections: What can

this mean? It can only mean one thing: A

Canadian spring. We must occupy and de-

occupy Canada.” — speaking to a robocall

rally on Parliament Hill, March 5, 2012

ON THE ROBOCALL SCANDAL:

9

“We all have not only a right to be speaking

out about these things, but a responsibility...

I think that to be neutral in situations

of injustice is to choose the side of the

oppressor.” — iPolitics, April 25, 2012

ON PROTESTING THE WILDROSE ALLIANCE:

10

“The first time that I had the idea to take

action in the Senate itself was when the

Senate rejected the climate change bill, which

already was incredibly weak ... I thought

about a number of different things. Like,

what if I could put tar sands water in the

cups of the Senators? But then I thought,

that wouldn’t have much of an impact, it

would only reach the small parliament

culture or bubble.” — speaking at Thinking

Outside the Ballot Box, October 22, 2011

ON THE LEAD-UP TO THE STOP HARPER SIGN:

Photos by Kyle Hamilton and the Canadian PressResearch by Sonya Bell

Designed by Jessie Willms