The Courier was at Vancouver City Hall Saturday, Aug. 19 to cover both a far-right rally against multiculturalism and the subsequent counterprotest to denounce those beliefs.
Leading members of the two far-right groups — World Coalition Against Islam (WCAI) and the Cultural Action Party of Canada (CAP) — were not seen in attendance.
Their 2 p.m. rally didn’t take place and was instead replaced by countless speakers promoting diversity.
Here are samples of what was said amongst the thousands in attendance.
“There’s a direct linkage between [Donald Trump’s] election and the rise in white nationalism. There is no question about it. But it would be wrong to assume racism wasn’t always there. Donald Trump is a symptom, not a cause of the problem.”
—Delta resident Gurprit Singh
“This is a peaceful counterprotest today. People are smiling and happy. My ‘Spidey senses’ aren’t going off at all. The Vancouver police are making sure everyone is safe.”
—Vancouver city councillor Kerry Jang
“We want to be sure that the voices for multiculturalism and inclusion are far stronger than those who are opposing it. We believe in a Canada where diversity is strength, where integration is the way to make communities strong instead of having isolation and fear between groups."
—Clarence, a Vancouver resident who didn’t want his last name published.
“It is important to have tolerance and free speech, as long as it’s within the laws of no hate speech. If people are fearful of their cultural changing, that may be a rational fear. But how we go about solving that fear takes dialogue together, not ranting based on fear.”
—Ruth, a Vancouver resident who didn’t want her last name published.
“We are surrounded by neighbours who enjoy each other’s presence regardless of what they look like and where they come from. We are surrounded by people who love this community.”
—Richmond resident Edward Liu, who helped organize a counterprotest in his city when anti-Chinese leaflets were distributed in November 2016.
“It is good for my heart to see you all and it gives me strength to see the strength of all of us standing together with love and respect for every race, creed, culture and faith that’s found here.
—Bob Chamberlin, vice president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
“In the old days, in the tribes, they kept to themselves. If someone came in, sometimes they would fight the other tribal members. But we have come very far in this. They now accept everybody to come into our territories and we treat them with respect. That’s the way it should be all around the world… No fighting, I love you all.”
—First Nations elder who went by the name of “Grandmother Buffalo”
“This city will not stand for hatred, will not stand for inequality, will not sand for Islamaphobia, will not stand for homophobia, will not stand for transphobia. Our speakers have said great words about empathy and tolerance and education. We need to build understanding with each other.”
—Mayor Gregor Robertson
“We are drawing a line in the sand. No more. We will not go backwards and seeing all of you here gives me hope and courage.”
—Delta-North MLA Ravi Kahlon, who serves as Parliamentary Secretary for Sport and Multiculturalism.
“We have all kinds of people here and you know what? We’re your brothers and sisters, and we’re your neighbours. We’re your fellow Canadians. This is how we have live together. Now, to the neo-Nazis, I would say: ‘Hey bro, my friend, try to get hidaya. Hidaya is understanding. Let’s try to understand each other. There’s not much to it.”
—Haroon Khan, trustee of Vancouver’s Jamia Masjid mosque
“Beyond the sadness and the anger and the pity, there’s a great deal of hope. I’ve noticed that the vast majority of people under 35 years old, they’re much better than their elders when it comes to this. All of us here who are 45 years old and older … take a page from our kids. We did a good job of teaching of them about the bigotries and the discriminations that we understand. Help them help us address the ones that we didn’t understand so that the next generation is educated not to put up with this.”
—Transgender activist and former Vancouver-False Creek NDP candidate Morgane Oger
