I spent some of this past Saturday shuttling between two competing demonstrations in downtown Toronto. It was "The Conservatives vs. The Coalition" within a few blocks of one another.

At Nathan Phillips Square (City Hall square, for those of you who live outside The Big Smoke, pictured above), about 2000 people gathered to support the Liberal-NDP-Bloc Quebecois coalition. It was a spirited, passionate affair, featuring speeches from Stephane Dion (perhaps one of his last as Liberal leader?) and Jack Layton, who was really on his game.

At the same time, in front of the legislature at Queen's Park, Peter Kent (the new junior foreign affairs minister), John Tory (Ontario PC leader), et al were excoriating the coalition in support of the governing Conservatives.

The crowd was much smaller, only about 500. But in liberal Toronto on a freezing cold day, that's not a bad number.

(Confusingly, the Toronto Star, which supports the coalition, gave almost no coverage to the event at City Hall, with its crowd that was four times bigger, and yet gave ample coverage including a picture to the event at Queen's Park. Can someone explain svp?).

Mary Walsh emceed the coalition demonstration and had the crowd in stitches with lines such as, "Stephen Harper has shut down Parliament and locked out another 308 workers," referring to the MP's.

Or this: "The other side is calling their demonstration a 'Rally for Canada.' Stephen Harper thinks he is Canada. But he's not. Yes, he is IN Canada. But is Canada in Harper?" she asked.

Jack Layton gave one of the best speeches I've ever seen him give, offering lines such as "Consensus is a great Canadian value, and I'm part of the 62% majority.  

When Layton mentioned Barack Obama, and his hope that the new coalition would work with the president-elect's administration, the crowd begin shouting "Yes We Can!"  Layton replied, "Can you hear us Obama?"

It was an interesting counterpoint to the pro-Conservative rally, where demonstrators stole their own chant from U.S. politics: "Just Say No!" evoking Nancy Reagan's anti-drug message.

Tonight, we continue to follow this evolving story as we consider the impact The Conservatives vs. The Coalition is having on national unity. The first major test comes tonight, when Quebecers will vote.

See you at 8 and/or 11.

Enjoy some video highlights from the coalition rally, below:

The crowd chants, "Coalition, coalition!"

Stephane Dion and Jack Layton arrive

The crowd chants, "Yes we can!"