A couple of dozen yellow vest protesters again rallied in Sundre on Saturday for the fifth week in a row, with passing motorists intermittently honking in support and MLA Jason Nixon stopping by briefly to hear concerns.
Although things got a bit more quiet during the Christmas holiday break, co-organizer Tamara Lee said not one weekend had yet been missed, and that plans to continue the weekly rallies remain firm.
The Sundre resident’s position since the first demonstration was held earlier in December has not changed, and Lee said Canadians should be granted the opportunity to vote on major issues, such as taxes and immigration, that divide public opinion.
“I’m still all about the direct democracy,” she said during an interview near the municipal office along Highway 27.
“I want referendums initiated by citizens on major issues.”
Discussing a mechanism called Referendum Initiated by Citizens, Lee expressed a commitment to keep pushing for a new policy that would enable three per cent of Canadian citizens to trigger a vote.
“They say that three per cent of citizens is what it takes to create a revolution,” she said when asked whether such a small minority should be able to force a costly, nationwide referendum.
Co-organizer Brenda Day said the movement has gained momentum on social media, where the main Yellow Vest Canada page has more than 100,000 followers. But their goal is to go beyond the digital world, she said.
“We have no intention that that’s where it’s going to grow and where it’s going to take life,” said Day.
Many people she has spoken with have expressed concerns about the UN Global Compact, although she concedes most of them have not even read the non-legally binding document that essentially outlines a commitment from the international community to humanely address growing numbers of migration and refugees.
“They haven’t read it; they haven’t seen it. They found out it happened without them even knowing,” she said, firm in her belief the UN compact, signed by more than 160 countries around the world, will impact everybody’s future in Canada.
When asked about some of the posts on the main Yellow Vest Canada page that stir up fears about the so-called Islamification of the country, Day said, “We’re not big into the conspiracy theories.”
However, when pressed about other posts that essentially claim covert efforts to undermine Canadian democracy will eventually lead to a takeover by Sharia Law, Day said she was concerned by the Islamic Party of Canada, which also has a social media page that as of this weekend had about 360 followers.
“We are not Islamic here, we are a free nation.”
She agreed Canada is a secular country that enshrines the freedom to practise any faith, but added, “By the same token, you don’t want someone saying a Christian doesn’t have any right to practise in Canada.”
Helge Nome, who lives on an acreage southeast of Caroline, came out Saturday to join the protesters. He said he is worried about uncontrolled immigration. “You can walk across the border and get into the intake stream. Why should that happen — why should people just walk across the border when other people have to make a proper application and go through the proper procedures?”
Nome worries an improperly handled influx of immigrants will “ghettoize” the country, even though immigrants are known to bring economic benefits as they spend in local economies.
“There is a downside to that — you can talk about the money they’ll generate, but the ghettoization to me is a real concern.”
When asked whether the impoverishing of communities is more the result of new immigrant arrivals or economic policy that allows wealth to pool at the top despite record earnings by the richest 0.01 per cent, he said, “The billionaires have a plan. And in Canada we’re not too threatened yet. But in Europe, they feel really threatened, whereby bringing in these large groups of people, the billionaires can split us all up and make us fight between each other. Then they can keep political power.”
Numerous conspiracies that billionaires like George Soros fund mass immigration are not uncommon, but reports say migrants and refugees are in actuality largely driven to uproot from their homes in search of greener pastures for a number of reasons, ranging from political or religious persecution, to drug cartel violence, economic desperation, and increasingly, climate change collapse.
Day said she feels that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is more interested in seeking appreciation from the world than from Canadians, and is a puppet for the UN who should be tried for treason.
“What’s he going to implement under the guise of the migration compact?”
Politicians on either side of the political aisle who pander to corporate interests and billionaires ahead of the people are “a huge problem,” she said.
Although inspired by the French movement that has called to tackle wealth inequality, increase the minimum wage and rein in unfettered greed, Day said, “there’s no room for an increase to the minimum wage in Canada” at this time.
Caroline’s mayor John Rimmer came out to stand in solidarity with the protesters, and said the biggest problem Canada faces is over taxation.
“They keep on adding more and more,” said Rimmer.
As for wealth pooling in the hands of the few, the “only reason we’re seeing a lot of money going to the top, is I’d be hoarding it as well with the things that are coming at us.”
However, Rimmer was not opposed to an increased minimum wage and said workers should be compensated as well as a company can afford.
“But if we keep adding more and more taxes and regulations so that the government has total control of everything, kiss her all good-bye.”
Cutting taxes, he said, is a major part of the solution. As for billion dollar enterprises that could double or at least substantially increase wages and still be profitable, Rimmer said, “I don’t really care about that argument, that’ll be what will be. There’s always going to be greed. How are you going to tackle it?”
Certainly not through government regulation, he said.
However, Day said the top-paid CEOs in the country should not be accumulating in less than one day what the average, hard-working Canadian takes all year to earn. But a lot has to change before the minimum wage can be increased, including stemming the flow of wealth to the top 0.01 per cent, she said.
“That is a hot point and a big concern.”
But change can happen provided people work together to ensure everyone benefits from economic prosperity, not just a small handful at the top, both of the organizers said.
“The rest of us are bigger than them,” said Lee.
“There’s more of us,” agreed Day.
While many of the protesters feel that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be removed from office under charges of treason, Nixon said he does not believe the leader of the governing Liberal Party is a traitor.
“I support defeating Justin Trudeau at the ballot box this fall,” he said Monday.
