Attendees: Me, Gregg Hagglund, Keith Henson, and a new person.

A short picket for labour day. Flyers were varied - my new one, plus the property tax flyer and the stalwart crimes/Xenu. I gave out about 50, Gregg gave out approximately 75, and Keith usually gives out a fair number. So, my estimate is about 200 for the 90 minutes that we picketed.

A Scientologist in the org kept trying to photograph the new picketer, and he kept putting his sign in front of his face whenever she tried.

The org was practically dead today. The one thing that came out of this is that the annual Auditor's Day event is being held at the Isabella Ester Theatres on September 21, as per the sign on the (inside) door of the org.

There's another good date for a picket.

--

** Scientology's gate is down. ** Canadian Scientology information is now at:

http://xenu.ca

From: hkhenson@cogeco.ca (Keith Henson)
Subject: Re: Toronto Picket Report 2002-09-02
Date: Tue, 03 Sep 2002 03:37:14 GMT
Organization: Temple of At'L'An
Message-ID: <3d762c16.98167281@news2.lightlink.com>

On Mon, 02 Sep 2002 19:14:45 -0400, "Christopher Wood"

<cwood@NOSPAMxenu.ca> wrote:

>Attendees: Me, Gregg Hagglund, Keith Henson, and a new person.
>
>A short picket for labour day. Flyers were varied - my new one, plus the
>property tax flyer and the stalwart crimes/Xenu. I gave out about 50,
>Gregg gave out approximately 75, and Keith usually gives out a fair
>number. So, my estimate is about 200 for the 90 minutes that we picketed.
>
>A Scientologist in the org kept trying to photograph the new picketer, and
>he kept putting his sign in front of his face whenever she tried.
>
>The org was practically dead today. The one thing that came out of this is
>that the annual Auditor's Day event is being held at the Isabella Ester
>Theatres on September 21, as per the sign on the (inside) door of the org.
>There's another good date for a picket.

I got the usual effect of a high fraction of people saying they already had read one of our flyers and a few people who would stop and want to talk, plus one guy who told me he was a long standing fan of mine here on ars. (Hi!)

Our new picketer sent in this report.

Picket report Toronto, Sept 2/2002

I met with Gregg and Keith, prior to picketing. We had a snack at a coffee shop near the cult HQ and discussed strategy. As a novice picketers, I wanted advice on how to respond to questions from culties. Consensus was culties were unlikely to approach me since for the last year they have been acting as if they are terrified of picketers. No further advice was offered.

Left coffee shop for picket supplies. I selected a sign which said

"SCIENCE FICTION SCIENCE FANTASY SCIENCE FRAUD SCIENTOLOGY"

on one side and

"SCIENTOLOGY DESTROYS LIVES AND MINDS"

on the other. Gregg provided me with an assortment of pamphlets and some good advice on how to carry them so the culties could not grab them easily.

Gregg and I headed for the cult HQ as Keith found his place 110 feet away. As soon as we were within earshot of the cult HQ, Gregg's patter began. He noticed an assembly of Sea Ogers, complete with their toy navy sailor suits, enthusiastically smoking outside the building on St. Mary St. and headed for them. It was comical watching this assembly scramble to avoid his entheta: "If there were any OTs we would not be picketing today". They ran for cover through an alley at the back of their building, but Gregg did not pursue them. Instead, he watched their reflections in a nearby window, and continued to direct his patter at them until they finally realized he could tell they were still out there.

I'm afraid honesty compels me to report that this belated cognition was not a result of advanced OT powers. Gregg told them he could see they were still there, and he knew they could still hear him. So they ran inside.

We wandered around the front of the cult HQ where we met a third picketer. He and I wore a path back and forth in front of the building while Gregg resumed his patter around the side. Although the streets were not crowded, pamphlets moved at a steady rate. I refined my picket tech during this period, and made some minor adjustments.

I turned my sign so the side reading "SCIENTOLOGY DESTROYS LIVES AND MINDS" always faced behind me, since it was a quicker read and even less ambiguous than the other side. I originally held out pamphlets one at a time, but I soon realized that I occasionally missed people who might want one because it took a few seconds to replace each as it was taken, and some people were in a hurry. So I tried to keep 3 or 4 pamphlets fanned out in my hand at all times, and held them well to my non-sign side so people behind me could tell that they were there for the taking. Anyone who made eye contact with me was offered a pamphlet. I walked in an oval, with the sign on curb side as I walked along the curb edge of the sidewalk, and the sign next to the building when I walked beside it for the return trip. Thus the pamphlets were always offered into pedestrian traffic.

A *lot* of people politely declined pamphlets, smiling and saying they already had them. Whenever this happened, I asked the person if he or she was aware that their property taxes were subsidizing the cult.

Many weren't, and happily accepted a pamphlet describing the property tax break enjoyed by the Toronto Co$. Needless to say, most people were outraged that their own taxes were higher as a direct result of the preferential treatment given to the cult, and agreed that a complaint to their city councilors was in order. With any luck, Toronto city hall will have to deal with several dozen angry tax-payers tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I ran out of these pamphlets.

One young man asked me if I was allowed to talk about why I was picketing. I assured him that I was, and summarized some of the cult's more flagrant local abuses. He took a pamphlet too.

Today is Labour Day, so it was a relatively low pedestrian traffic day on Yonge Street. Nevertheless, I talked to perhaps eight or ten people at some length, and handed out 50 or 100 pamphlets.

The culties made numerous attempts to photograph me. I tried to oblige, except somehow my picket sign seemed to slip down and obstruct my face whenever they pulled out their camera. At least they had lots of opportunities to get some good shots of "SCIENTOLOGY DESTROYS LIVES AND MINDS". I look forward to seeing those on the web :-)

After 90 minutes or so, Reverend Al "One week course" Buttnor kept catching Gregg's eye and tapping his watch. Since all of us have lives and commitments that do not involve the Co$, we obliged and headed off to meet Keith. We joined him for the last two of his many conversations with interested people, then pried him off the street and headed home.

The culties are undoubtedly working very hard trying to figure out who the SP is that wrote this report. Until they succeed, I will remain

Member X, ARSCC

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