The following is an open letter about the "Freedom Rally" and "Freedom Convoy" coming to Vancouver on October 17/18. See below for list of endorsers.
Open Letter Regarding “Freedom Rally” this Weekend
We, the signatories to this open letter, have observed with mounting concern the growth of the far-right threat in the past months. They have cynically used paranoia and misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic to recruit new adherents and coalesce formerly disparate fringe groups.
It is disturbing that recent public manifestations of this dangerous movement in Vancouver have brought out upwards of 700 people to rally and march where previously only a handful could be spotted hanging around the edges of climate and social justice events.
We are particularly alarmed to find out that an alliance of conspiracy believers, anti-vaxxers, white supremacists and neo-Nazis is planning a major two-day event in Vancouver October 17 and 18 which will include the arrival of a convoy of such extremists coming from Saskatchewan and Alberta.
In other times and places, it might be appropriate to mobilize the community in non-violent opposition to their bigotry and hate. The inspiring turnout of over 4,000 at City Hall following the Charlottesville incidents of summer 2017 show what we are capable of. But we recognize the irony of confronting in-person COVID deniers who oppose and refuse to abide by common sense public health measures. Nevertheless, it is crucial that we not remain silent in the face of the danger this phenomenon creates now and as when we emerge from the ongoing crisis.
We are particularly concerned about the immediate threat this full weekend convergence poses to workers in the service and transit sectors. We have already seen members of this extremist movement confront workers and passersby around the issue of wearing a protective face mask. These may or may not have been isolated individual events. We are afraid that weekend will see groups of these extremists instigating violence. Such cowards are emboldened when they have large numbers.
We cannot allow our friends, families, and communities to be put in harm’s way by those who would come to our city to spread hatred and ignorance. We call on our public authorities including elected officials and the police to fulfill their responsibility and duty to maintain public safety in the face of this threat. We are stalwart defenders of the rights of assembly and free speech, but we cannot be so naïve as to allow a violent neo-fascist movement to grow and threaten society – including its most vulnerable members - behind the façade of free expression.
|
Vancouver and District Labour Council |
|
|
New Westminster Labour Council |
|
|
Fraser Valley Labour Council |
|
|
Chief Judy Wilson |
UBCIC Secretary-Treasurer |
|
UBCIC executive |
UBCIC |
|
BC Government and Service Employees Union Public Service Alliance of Canada |
|
|
Canadian Union of Public Employees |
Metro Vancouver District Council |
|
Canadian Union of Public Employees |
Local 1004 |
|
MoveUP OneCity |
|
|
Green Party of Vancouver |
|
|
Sierra Club BC |
|
|
Burnaby Pride |
|
|
Teaching Support Staff Union |
Solidarity and Social Justice Committee |
|
Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods |
|
|
Chronically Queer |
|
|
Longhouse Council of Native Ministry Church |
|
|
David Suzuki |
Environmentalist/broadcaster |
|
Angela Girard |
City of North Vancouver, City Councilor |
|
Christine Boyle |
Vancouver City Councillor |
|
Jean Swanson |
Vancouver City Councillor |
|
John Irwin |
Vancouver Park Board Commissioner |
|
Pete Fry |
Vancouver City Councillor |
|
Stuart Mackinnon |
Vancouver Park Board Commissioner |
|
Janet Fraser |
Vancouver School Board Trustee |
|
Vancouver Pride Society |
|
|
C. Blake Gilks MD FRCPC Sadie Kuehn |
Community Leader |
|
Anti-Racist Canada (ARC Collective) |
|
|
Vancouver Peace Council |
|
|
Ellen Woodsworth |
Quirke the Queer Writing Collective |
|
Mel Lehan |
Community Builder |
|
Sustainabiliteens |
Youth climate justice group |
|
UBC Students Against Bigotry |
|
|
Alan Dutton |
CAERS |
|
Ananda Lee Tan |
Just Transition Alliance |
|
West Coast Coalition Against Racism |
|
|
Andrew Larigakis |
350.org - Vancouver |
|
Hannah Kawas |
Canada Palestine Association - chair |
|
Independent Jewish Voices |
|
|
Women Transforming Cities |
|
|
Bill Rees |
Professor Emeritus, UBC School of Applied Science |
|
Carl Rosenberg |
Independent Jewish Voices |
|
Dr. William Bruneau |
Past-president CAUT |
|
John Cashore |
Former BC NDP Minister of Labour |
|
Wendy Pedersen |
Carnegie Community Action Project |
|
Jeanie Kamins |
Artist |
|
Jef Keighley |
Retired Unifor staff |
|
Joanne Colban |
Concerned resident |
|
Heather Cho |
Concerned resident |
|
Michael Lebowitz |
Professor emeritus, SFU Economics Department |
|
Peter Thomson |
Retired teacher |
|
Sandra Bruneau |
Past board member - BCCLA |
|
Sid Shniad |
|
|
Itrath Syed |
SFU Graduate Student |
|
Martha Roth |
|
|
Marty Roth |
|
|
Neil Naiman |
|
|
Gail Davidson |
|
|
J. Deutsch |
Science for Peace |
|
Robert Ages |
Community Organizer |
|
Anna Bjarnason |
Concerned resident |
|
Susan Spratt |
Unifor retiree |
|
Bob Hackett |
Contributing columnist, National Observer |
|
Mark Leier |
Professor, History Department, SFU |
|
Paul Bjarnason |
Retired COPE Union Representative |
|
Penny Goldsmith |
|
|
Elsie Dean |
|
|
Steve R. Duncan |
|
| Dr. Sheila Delany |
Emerita, SFU |
| Valerie Raoul |
UBC Professor Emerita |
| Yvon Raoul |
Retired VSB teacher |
| Christine Arcand |
WILPF (Women's International League for Peace and Freedom) Nanaimo |
| Merrill James O’Donnell |
Concerned resident, New Westminster |
|
Trish Lim-O’Donnell |
Concerned resident, New Westminster |
| Peter Marcus |
Poet |
| Sandy Bauer |
Concerned resident |
| Jane Bouey |
Former Vancouver School Board Trustee |
|
Vanneau Neesham |
Retired Teacher |
| Jeannie Magenta |
Concerned citizen |
| Anne Duke |
Concerned citizen |
| Dr. Judy Whitehead |
|
| Tom Nesbit |
|
| Janet Patterson |
Concerned resident |
| Don Crane |
Concerned resident |
| Sarah O'Leary |
Lawyer, Harrison O’Leary |
| Rolf Harrison |
Lawyer, Harrison O’Leary |
| Deb Thomas |
Retired librarian |
| Penny Goldsmith |
|
| Susan Stout |
Retired airline worker |
| Carol Cross |
Retired social worker |
| Jim MacFarlan |
Past President, BC Teachers' Federation, Former Vancouver School Board Trustee |
| Bob Ratner |
Professor Emeritus, Sociology, UBC |
| Shauna Butterwick |
Professor Emeritus, UBC |
| Donald Fisher |
|
| Tim Louis |
Former Vancouver City Councillor |
| Wendy Frost |
|
| Dan Pratt |
|
| Susan B. Boyd |
Professor Emerita Susan Boyd, F.R.S.C., UBC |
| Norman Epstein |
|
| Anne Roberts |
Former Vancouver City Councillor |
| Lisa Barrett |
Former Mayor, Bowen Island |
|
Bill Engleson |
Retired Social Worker |
|
Victor Brodeur |
Concerned resident |
|
Tony Belcher |
Retired public service employee |
|
Sharon Gregson |
Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC |
|
Robert Hornsey |
Owner Bergthorson Academy of Musical Arts |
|
John Bail |
Retired National Director, Canadian Union of Postal Workers |
|
Betty B. Blay Ackah |
|
|
Susan Martin |
|
|
Jane Power |
Post Graduate, Simon Fraser University |