Obert Madondo’s Canada Crime Bill C-10 Hunger Strike: Day 44 Update

This journal entry covers days 41, 42, 43 and 44 (April 23, 24, 25 and 26) of my indefinite hunger strike against Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives’ draconian new crime law, the deceptively christened “Safe Streets and Communities Act” (Bill C-10).  Before I started the peaceful protest on March 14, I prepared my body through a feast-and-famine practice regimen that started in mid-January. Through plenty of water, regular glasses of orange juice and a fortified soy drink, and measured doses of sugar and salt, my body has been able to slow down muscular atrophy (the wasting or loss of muscle tissue).

But now my health has deteriorated significantly.

Current issues:

• I have lost over 30 pounds.
• So far I’ve been very alert and full of energy in the morning. The level of energy has significantly decreased. My body and legs are much weaker all the time.
• My body now dictates that I nap more often than when I started the protest.
• For the past four days, I’ve been experiencing regular chest pains.
• Excruciating ache of limbs as muscles constrict and deteriorate. Especially acute is the pain in the right leg, which was injured during the police eviction of Occupied Ottawa from Confederation Park.
• Increasing forgetfulness.
• So far, reading has been a significant part of my coping strategy. But now my eyes hurt when I’m reading. It’s also becoming harder and harder to concentrate.
• My injured back bothers me still.

Otherwise, my spirits are high.

I visit the doctor tomorrow to receive the results of the comprehensive tests done two weeks ago. I’ll also inform the doctor of the above issues.

Key developments:

• My new first YouTube video has as attracted a significant number of views. I need your help to spread the word. Please watch the video. Share it as widely as possible. Post the video to your blog, Facebook profile, Pages and Groups. Share it with your blogging friends. Journalists too. Ask your friends to share the video with their contacts. For email shares, here’s the video’s link: http://youtu.be/V-mcaeD16ro.
• My new petition, titled PM Harper, Parliament of Canada: Fulfill Obert’s Bill C10 hunger strike demands NOW!, is doing great. It has attracted a significant amount of signatures and progressive comments.
• As usual, I’ve received dozens of messages of support, solidarity and advice from a lot of people through my Facebook Profile, blog, Twitter account and email. Thank you!
• The Parliament of Canada is yet to respond to my letter, delivered on March 27 through Ottawa Centre MP, Paul Dewar, and subsequently e-mailed to all MPs and Senators.
• I started redesigning and rebuilding Occupied Ottawa’s official website.
• I added my voice to the following developments in Canadian politics: the shameful effort by the right-wing Big Oil lobby group, EthicalOil.org, to have force the Canada Revenue Agency to investigate the David Suzuki Foundation and review its charitable status; the famous VikiLeaks30 Twitter affair; and the recent Alberta provincial election.

In the works:

• Tomorrow, a journalist from CBC Radio visits to interview me and a couple of friends and supporters.
• Tomorrow, I visit to the doc to hear the results of tests done two weeks ago.
• On Sunday, a documentary make visits from Toronto.
• On Monday, I start taking my protest to Parliament Hill.

To my friends who visit me regularly here in Ottawa, those of you around the world who stay in touch via Facebook, Twitter and email, Thank You!

Some of you have expressed concern that the mainstream media in Canada is yet to cover my protest even as it gleefully covers hunger strikes outside our borders. For example, the current hunger strike by Palestine prisoners in Israeli jails. Please do not despair. Twenty-six years ago, Senator Jacques Hébert completed a 21-day hunger strike to protest the Brian Mulroney government’s decision to nuke the Katimavik project. He saved Katimavik, one of Canada’s oldest and largest youth volunteer programs. Unfortunately, the project did not survive the Conservative government’s 2012 federal budget.

Related journal entries:
Obert Madondo’s Bill C-10 Hunger Strike: Day 2 UpdateObert Madondo’s Bill C-10 Hunger Strike: Day 5 UpdateObert Madondo’s Bill C-10 Hunger Strike: Day 7 UpdateObert Madondo’s Indefinited Bill C-10 Hunger Strike: Day 9 UpdateObert Madondo’s Bill C-10 Hunger Strike: Day 11 UpdateObert Madondo’s Bill C-10 Hunger Strike: Day 14 UpdateObert Madondo’s Canada Bill C-10 Hunger Strike: Day 17 Update

Suggested reads and solidarity actions:

• View and share my YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/V-mcaeD16ro
• Please sign and share my petition. Use the “Facebook button” on the petition page to invite all your friends to sign the petition. Use the “Email button” on the petition page to invite your email contact to join the campaign. Use the “Twitter button” on the petition page to post the petition to twitter. Use the “Like button” on the petition page to post the petition to your Facebook wall. Email friends with a link to the petition. Just imagine how far we can go if you pass the petition on to 10 of your friends, and they do the same… Share your views on crime Bill c10. Leave a comment! If you have a personal blog, please embed the petition’s widget on it.
• Read and share my Open Letter to Parliament of Canada
• You can also: Befriend me on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter

Once again, I need your support on this journey. Together, we can tell Harper and the Conservatives that the Safe Streets and Communities Act has no place in Canada. We can do it! For those of you facing hurdles in your efforts to make this world a better place, please do not despair. Don’t ever let anyone tell you it can’t be done!