Page protest: Was it appropriate?

Brigette DePape stands in the middle of the floor of the Senate as Governor General David Johnston delivers the speech from the throne in the Senate chamber on Parliament Hill on Friday. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

There was much discussion among CBCNews.ca commenters after a 21-year-old page walked onto the Senate floor during the speech from the throne on Friday to protest against Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Brigette DePape, a recent University of Ottawa graduate, carried a sign reading "Stop Harper" and walked out in front of Gov. Gen. David Johnston as he read the afternoon speech.

Senate pages are hired for one to two years to work in the upper chamber, providing basic support to the senators during sittings and in committee meetings. This generally means fetching water, photocopying documents and passing messages. They tend to be politically engaged, but this type of protest is unprecedented.

DePape was immediately fired following the incident.

Some commenters applauded DePape's actions.

"BRAVO! Love it! That's courage," wrote Amalgamating.
 
pat_wobbly agreed. "She didn't use guns, violence or terrorism. She gave up a cozy government paid job in the process. She woke up the gray hairs in the Senate too."

However, MovieJay believed the protest was disrespectful considering the venue.

"[Harper] won, and yes, we're allowed to be creative in our dissent, but she disrespected the process, so unfortunately even though I agree with her points, she should not be celebrated for what she did."

CanGun61 agreed. "[Too] bad she was not professional enough to understand that there is a time and place to air your grievances and this was not the time or the place."

Was DePape's form of protest appropriate? Let us know in the comments below.

(This survey is not scientific. Results are based on readers' responses.)