Stories from the six months protest in front of the New Brunswick Legislature!!!!

charles
Originally uploaded by Oldmaison

It’s been over a month and I was getting a little
homesick. I was surprised once I noticed a couple Doug and Jan Johnston from Saint John.< THIS HAPPENED ON
JUNE 28!!! >

I was in contact via the internet with
those people. Jan works in real estate and Doug is a retiree.

These people just got married a few years ago
and they seem to be happy. They travel all over the place and really enjoy life. They took a few pictures and gave me a few bucks to help me out.

They were concerned over the hot weather. I told them not to worry because I drank lots of water.

After 45 minutes of watching me preaching to the people about ADD/ADHD.
They decided to leave for the Loyalist City.

Once again, I felt alone because I didn’t know anyone from this area and it was very difficult.

I became very good friends with Ethel and Tammy.

They cleaned the Government offices in the evening and I would make them laugh with my many stories of the day.

Thank God for those cleaners because my evenings would be very long.

It was very important for this ADHD individual
to find something to pass the time. I love to talk and it sure was nice of these girls to have the patience to listen to me.

The evening before August 1st was a
very nervous period for this protester.

August 1st was going to be my Birthday and I would be 44 years old.

Why so nervous you ask?

You see? I hate the number 4
and I always said that 4 was my unlucky number.

All week long, I told the people around the Legislature that I was very uncomfortable.

While sitting on my beach chair under a tree, I heard the bells of a church ringing on 12 different occasions.

It was Midnight and it was D-DAY!

I’m 44 years old and I was very uptight.

I said to myself - The day is finally
here and lets pray that nothing bad is going to happen to me.

A few minutes after midnight, someone who owns a little deli stopped by and gave me a nice bottle of cold water.

His name was Drake and I was surprised
that he owned his own business because he told me that he has ADHD.

I love to hear a successful story about
people who has this disorder.

Unfortunately months later, I would notice a sign on the windows of his store that he was no longer in business. I wonder what
happened?

He was a nice guy and we chatted for over
half a hour.

Trevor Holder < a MLA> walked by after
midnight and seen me talking away with a couple of strangers.

Trevor must have believed that I was nuts
but he has to understand that I have no television or radio!

I would call it a night once I started to feel
sleepy.

I chatted with another nice couple and after
awhile I decided to go to sleep.

I just couldn’t close my eyes.

I had a gut feeling that something bad was
going to happen.

I finally went to sleep then suddenly
at 2:30am; all hell broke lose.

I was thrown on one side of the tent and still half asleep.

At first, I believed that I was in San Francisco. It felt like an
Earthquake!!!!!!!!!!!

I then realize that someone wanted to
steal my tent and with me in it.

I started to scream very 1. loud-----F@CK...F@CK...F@CK..YOU WAIT TILL I GET OUTSIDE!!!!!!

My shouting must have scared thembecause they let go of the tent and ran away.

I quickly put my clothes on but they were long gone!

I was lost for words and I might add that my nerves were shot.

I moved my tent to the front of the Legislature
and knocked on the front door to tell the
commissionaire what just happened.

The guy in charge for the evening was Mike.

He was a black guy and a gentleman who would speak his mind on differentissues.

I told Mike what just happen and I lost my
lighter in all the excitement.

I needed a smoke to calm down. Luckily Mike had a lighter.

I told the security person what just happened and I was a little upset.


This was the first instance in 39 days that something
like this ever happened to me in front of the
Legislature.

While chatting with the commissionaire? I
noticed a bat flying around my tent.

I told Mike that things are getting worse.

It’s going to be a very crazy day for my birthday.

I had a very difficult time falling asleep.

I walked across the street and sat
down at the Art Gallery.

I tried to figure out who would do this?

Hours earlier, I confronted three youths near the Legislature to sign my petition.

Once we came inches from each other, I noticed that they had tattoos on their arms and looked like junkies.

The two young guys looked spaced out but I don’t care who signed my piece of paper. A signature is a signature.

Many of these druggies were forced on Ritalin as a child and now they’re into the heavy drugs.

The young guys were ready to sign until the young female ordered them not to sign. I found it funny the way she
ordered them around?

I may be wrong but I believe that
they were the ones who tried to steal my tent with me in it.

It’s not a house but it’s my little part
time home and I felt invaded.

I stayed on the steps for over one hour.

I prayed that the two guys would try
this stunt again. I would make a arrest LAPD style.

Remember Rodney King? Hey? I always been a strong believer that if a person wishes to do me some harm?

I’ll gladly oblige to give them a real good fist
fight. I can take care of myself and I’m not scared of anyone.

Around 5:00am, I went back to sleep.

Suddenly, I notice a big spider in my tent!

I am very afraid of spiders. I really freak out and had another smoke.

Finally, I went to bed and woke up early in the morning.

It was around 7:00am and I was very tired.

The guys at Tirus Taxi always hung around the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel.

I asked the only guy who smoked in
a crowd for a light and he had the lighter in his hand but it didn’t work! It just rang out of fuel.

The Capital is a place where almost everyone jogs around the trails or sidewalk.

I tried to locate someone who smokes but to no avails.

I only had three hours sleep and I needed a smoke and my coffee at Tim’s.

Sandy Bastarache walked by me. Sandy is a guy is a good friend of Abel LeBlanc.

Sandy and I would be involved in a few confrontation during the next few months.

I worked with the guy at the Shipyard and I told him to give me two bucks because I needed a coffee.

Once at Tim’s there was a huge line up of around 70 people and my poor ADHD mind wouldn’t be able to handle such a
line up.

I went to the drive-true, as luck would have
it, the drivers believed that I was a panhandler and made a complaint to the girls at Tim’s.

At the end, I found a good Samaritan and walked to my tent, sat down on my beach chair.

My poor nerves were shot but the coffee and smoke was good.

The accident last evening could have been much worse.

Those cowards could have carried bats and knives. Well? I don’t scare easy
and this kind of action is to be expected when you protest in public.

I put my tent in the same spot where I was
last year and it’s safer.

My tent was on the right side of the Legislature and I didn’t bother anyone
but after this terrible experience, I had to take some pre-caution.

I know that the staff at the Legislature
weren’t going to be happy but I have to take a few pre-caution.

I know for a fact that if I would have
been in Saint John camping out?

My tent would have landed in a pawn shop long before this.

The Capital is a friendly City and of course there’s always a few jerks around.

One older guy shouted at me yesterday
that I was only going to be there for a few more days because I’m destroying the lawn!

I told the old guy to phone the Government!

Ok? What other issues were going
to happen on my birthday???

The media is going to think that I wanted their attention by moving my tent
but this isn’t true.

After walking around I noticed a
pair of underwear and a shirt on the ground. At first, I believe that it was from the drunken person whom the
police bought to the drunk tank last Saturday! < July 26th >

Looks to me that the people who lifted my tent
were homeless people and it appears that they shit in their pants once they heard my loud voice.

I might add that the pair of shorts stayed in the same location for two weeks and there was no way in the world that I was going to touch that clothing.

I decided to return to my original location!

I believe that it was just one of those freak accident!

This was the first instance beside having my beach chair stolen that I had trouble.

One commissionaire named -BOB.

He told me that I should hire one of them because they’re cheap and reliable!

I found that line very funny.

Bob is the most polite person that I ever met on the ground of the Legislature. He’s in his sixties and He always addressed people by Mrs, Mr, Miss or Sir!

Can you imagine? A commissionaire standing guard over my tent?

This little episode made me stronger to continue my battle for the kids with ADHD!

The first weekend of August was a very interesting one.

I was still upset of the manner that the guys tried to steal my tent.

Friday afternoon, a couple came over to wish me a Bonne Fete.

I was surprise that they knew it was my
birthday. They told me that Bernard Richard stood up in the house and told all the politicians in the Legislator that it was my 44th Birthday and as smart as he is He took the opportunely to talk about my
protest and the issue of Ritalin.

What a great way to bring the issue up to the public.

Of course his speech wasn’t printed in the media but it did reach a few people.

Jody Carr < P.C. MLA> invited me for lunch as a birthday gift but I had already eaten at the soup kitchen.

Too bad that I went because it would have
been a nice change but c’est la vie.

My favorite priest also came by to invite me for supper.

Another person came from behind me and wished me a very Bonne Fete and it was Bernard Lord < Premier of this
Province >

I thanked him and told the Premier that it
was very nice for Mr.Richard to announce my special day in the house and I continued by telling the premier that he knew what I wanted for a Christmas
Present?

I never seen a person move so fast. He
quickly left the scene in a hurry. It was really good to hear those kinds of words from the Premier himself.


Minutes later, a bureaucrat Terry Andow told me to go home and call him for a job!

He did all this while he was chatting with someone else.

Was I suppose to Say —
DUUHHHH…. OK, I’m going home now.

YEAH RIGHT!

I told the appointed person to see me next week.

We would discuss my concerns over lunch.

I had more Natives confronting me of the use of Ritalin on their reserve.

It’s too bad that I couldn’t get in touch with a native friend of mine in Saint John because we could have built a teepee around 20 feet high.

A person never knows??? Anything can happen in front of the legislature.

I know someone with a Native status card
and I would allow that individual in my tent.

It would be cold in the evenings so therefore we would need wood for a nice camp fire.

I would ask - How’s negotiation
going to have a committee travel the Province to study the issue of ADHD?

They would say- Not good! We’ll
need some wood so therefore lets begin to cut trees.After a one week period and two trees gone. I would asked again the same question and I would receive the
same action.

Ok, one more tree. At the end of my
protest? There would be no more trees in the area of the Legislature.

The National media would get a hold
of my protest and they would say- All this for
Ritalin??? Hey? You never know what can happen around the Government building?

My Birthday ended up in a good way and everything was fine but the long weekend
was around the corner and anything can happen when you’re dealing with the public.

On August 2nd, Saturday morning, I decided to go to the market and campaign for my cause.

I quickly had a bunch of people
signing my petition and I noticed a woman dressed in fancy clothes waiting to chat with me.

Her name was Evelyn Fillmore.

She was in charge of the Farmer’s
Market and if there were any complaints?

It was her job to find a solution to the problem in hand.

I told her that I had the feeling that I was in trouble?

With her eyes looking upwards she said-Could be?

She told me that I wasn’t allowed to gather names for my petition in this area because I didn’t have a permit.

I told her that there was a homeless guy dancing a doll monkey around with music in the background begging for money.

What about that guy? She told me
that the police were on their way.

Of course; the Police never came and I was forced to go across the street. As the homeless guy, I was on the sidewalk but
I didn’t wish to cause any problems with the
citizens in this area. I believe that it was one of those evil bureaucrats who made the complaint.

At the end, it turned out pretty good because it began to rain and I was under a tree.

There was no lighting but it was
funny to see all those people getting wet in the rain while I was dry collecting names across the street.

I was in the shade and it was comfortable.

Remember what I said in the past? There’s a reason for everything!

I received around 100 names for my cause.

After a few hours, I was a little tired and decided to walk over to my tent for a nice afternoon nap.

Once there, I opened my zipper of my little part time home and I noticed a pair of legs.

I quickly closed the tent and said to myself- MY GOD? IT’S BAD ENOUGH THAT THEY WANT TO STEAL MY TENT WITH ME IN IT BUT NOW THEY’RE SLEEPING IN MY LITTLE HOME????

After a few seconds, I found out that the person was no other than my girl
friend - Pat!

She was sleeping like a baby and it was
sure nice to see her. She hasn’t seen me for over 30 days and we had a good time sitting and relaxing in front of the legislator.

She wanted me home but I had
to continue my battle with the Government.

The year before, she played a major role ending my 12 day protest but this time around, she decided to leave me
alone.

I showed her the soup kitchen. Every good
things must come to a end and it sure did on August 2nd at the Soup Kitchen.

George Pierce wasn’t in charge.

There was woman in his place and her name was- Marie Starr it was the same woman whom I chatted with
the year before.

I remember that I went on a hunger
strike for the kids with ADHD. All I drank was juice.

I asked Marie if I could have some juice because I was on a hunger strike. She told me that it wasn’t her problem that I wasn’t eating.

Once we had our little meal, I asked Marie Starr if I could have a little lunch to bring with me.

She told me that working people are the only one who receives this special lunch. I told her that George Pierce said that
it was ok!

Marie angrily threw the bag on my table and
said - That’s your last lunch!

We all know that everybody can’t get along with everyone.< It sure would be a boring world > My girl felt embarrasses but I did explained to my girl that I wasn’t treated like this all the time.

Later that evening, she took me over to
a nice little bar and enjoyed a few drinks. I wasn’t very comfortable drinking in public because those evil bureaucrats could be anywhere.

We had a nice romantic walk over the bridge and it was perfect until it began
to rain very hard.

We slept in my tent while listening
to the heavy rain outside. The next morning, the ants woke us up.

During these last few days, I had a major
problem with the Ants.

As a joke, I told the people-
Since my tent is located on the Left side of the Legislature? I may be attack by the C.O.R. Party ants from the left wing? Maybe they don’t like Acadians?

I told her to get ready because we were going to church.

She was surprised that I wanted to go because I rarely went to church in Saint John.

Pere Brien is suppose to retire in a couple of years so therefore this might bethe last time that I’ll have a chance to listen to him preach the word of the Lord.

It wasn’t easy because the new church is built on top of a huge hill.

I didn’t know that it was going to be such a long trek.

My God, it was a very long and hard walk for my girl.

If I had known this? I would have ordered a taxi from Trius. They never once charged me for a fare.

We began the long walk and once there we were full of sweat. We were both a little tired. We didn’t fit in too well
with the other fancy people but who cares? In the eyes of God, he doesn’t care what you look like.

Just as long as a person shows up for Messe.

Maybe in 100 years when a new church will be built? They’ll place the house of the Lord at the bottom of the Hill.

Sure is a huge climb! Even the poor people needs a break from walking huge mountains to go pay our respect to
the Lord.

That afternoon, I had a really difficulttime to get my girl out of the tent. She found the atmosphere so relaxed and peaceful and that’s what she needed. Pat is the type who has a very good heart and
unfortunately her son took advantage of her. Anywhere she worked or visited? He would show up and begged her
for some money.

This time around, there would be no
Junkies around to bother her. She was sitting upwards in the tent and look very happy.

The next day, she took the bus and I felt sad to see her go.

I felt like I was in the Army and she came to visit me or worst yet that I was in Prison.

If I would have stayed in the Loyalist City and the way that her son was bothering us? Surely, I would have ended up in Prison.

I waved her good bye while she left on the bus.

On Monday, I decided to attend the ceremonies for Brunswick Day.

The ceremonies were held in Officer’s
Square and I was in a very good place.

The people were staring at me from far away. It was a darn shame thatthe media didn’t cover my protest because it would have made my job a little easier.

I was doing really good till the rain started to fall again. Thank god that Marc came along when he did.

I asked the homeless guy to run to my tent and cover the top of my little home before the inside got all wet.

I guess he reached my tent just on time because the ceremonies were
ruined by the heavy rain. I might add that I was forced to stay in my tent for 4 hours fighting with the ants from the C.O.R. Party and the rain.

Pretty bad for a person who has ADHD.

Once again, Pere Brien came for a
visit. After he left, someone told me that he met a couple from Saint John and they said that they weren’t surprised that Charles LeBlanc was in a tent in front
of the Legislature.

They also told the couple that they heard me on the talk shows all the time and that
I was right by saying that the Irvings are Evil!

I don’t really know if I should take those kind of words as an insult or a complement?

I know for a fact that once you speak out on any issues in public the way
I’m doing? You’re going to make a lot of enemies!