I seriously considered writing this letter and cc:'ing it to the Leader-Post:

Dear Paul Martin:

Great job on yet another example of how oblivious you and every other politician from the East are to Western Canadian concerns.

U2 played concerts in the prairies on both of their last two tours, in Winnipeg in 1997 and two shows in Calgary in 2001. This year, they won't be playing anywhere near the prairie provinces - thanks to you. Instead of letting the market decide, you had to call Bono directly and ask them to play in Ottawa instead, when there are already numerous concerts being played within a 5-hour (or less!) drive from the city. The rest of us here out West will have to drive 16+ hours to see the best band in the world (except for AC/DC, of course) play, meaning most won't see them at all.

Did Ottawa really need that concert? Certainly not any more than we need Ottawa, so please enjoy the show and then promptly fuck right off!

Sincerely,

ME

There is something you can do - sign the petition and bring U2 to Winnipeg. It'll probably be as effective as protesting (hat-tip to all the idiot hippies out there), but you gotta make a statement somehow :)