SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Some 30 protesters gathered outside Stanton Plaza on Saturday, rallying against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent move to suspend Parliament until after the 2010 Winter Olympics.

"As Canadians we have to show solidarity against Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue parliament," said Mary Lou Cherwaty, president of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour.

On Dec. 30, Harper announced Parliament will be shut down until the end of the winter Olympics in February.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington spoke inside the federation of labour's office.

"We see that our prime minister has locked the doors of our democratic institution," said Bevington. "He's hoping that during the winter games he will raise enough nationalism that will justify the issues that he's ignoring."

The alledged torture of Afghan detainees, the economy and climate change were the major issues protesters said the prime minister is ignoring.

Bevington said he was pleased to see the number of young people in attendance at the protest and stated that, "this type of action can speak well for the future of politics."

Many protesters were recruited through the Facebook group, Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. More than 216,000 people have joined the group and thousands of people attended protests around the country.

"We didn't have a million-dollar ad campaign, but we had more people attending than from the pro and anti-coalition protests combined," said Christopher White, a 25-year-old Yellowknife resident currently attending university in Edmonton who started the group on Facebook.

Bevington said in his speech that the protest was a non-partisan occasion and there were people attending from all political parties.

"The Facebook group was started by people who aren't political," said White. "I'm not a member of a political party."

City councillors Mark Heyck and Shelagh Montgomery attended Saturday's protest.

"I think it's undemocratic what the prime minister has done," said Montgomery.

Garth Wallbridge wore a sign that read "Dictator Harper = Threat to Canadian Democracy."

"He doesn't want to face the tough questions," said Wallbridge, who ran for the Conservative nomination in the Western Arctic in 2005. "In other countries, people rally and take to the streets. I think as Canadians we're so comfortable we haven't done that until today."

Bevington said he will return to Ottawa on Monday to stand with other locked-out MPs outside Parliament.