The National: Do protests work?
CBC’s The National interviewed Navigator’s Robin Sears today on last week’s Greeenpeace demonstration on Parliament Hill:
WENDY MESLEY (REPORTER):
So this morning, I met with Robin Sears. He’s best known for advising politicians in trouble, like Brian Mulroney, more recently Michael Bryant. But he also has some environmental clients who want some help working the system, and so I asked him what he thought about that Greenpeace demo last week. (Interview) Do you think that has no effect?
ROBIN SEARS (NAVIGATOR LTD.):
It probably raised a lot of money for Greenpeace because it will appear in all sorts of videos, on their websites and in their direct mail. It made their people feel happy. It gave them a sense of organizational legitimacy like all of their stunts do. Did it effect change? I doubt it.
WENDY MESLEY (REPORTER):
Well, I mean, you talk to some of the people at Greenpeace or the Suzuki Foundation. They say, you know, it’s quite often a waste of time. They’re not listening to us. They’re not interested in our message if we go knocking on politicians’ doors with this government anyway.
ROBIN SEARS (NAVIGATOR LTD.):
And do they find that they’re more interested when they’re shouting at them as they drive by in a limo? You know, there’s a bit of an inconsistency in that argument and its very construction. If they’re not listening to you in private, why are they going to listen to you when they’re shouting at them in public?
WENDY MESLEY (REPORTER):
So what should they do then?
ROBIN SEARS (NAVIGATOR LTD.):
Well, I think the only response, if you do this, we will support what you do publicly, we will find people to say you are a good government and a good premier for having done so, we’ll line up our own people to campaign on your behalf, all kinds of benefit propositions you can offer; and if you don’t do it, and this can often remain unsaid, there will be these other not-so-happy consequences.
WENDY MESLEY (REPORTER):
Those not-so-happy consequences, he means, of course, the threat of more noisy… bringing out Greenpeace, more noisy protests like that stunt on Parliament Hill. And speaking of that stunt, we caught up with Glenn MacIntosh who was one of those arrested last week on the roof.
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