Hundreds of Victorians rallied before the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia one more time, answering the call of WeUnify Canada to fight for one common goal: holding the government accountable for its constitutional overreach during the COVID pandemic and in the aftermath thereof. Several guests came forward to speak, not least of them Brian Peckford, former Premier of Newfoundland and last surviving signatory to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to propose all kinds of action plans to retaliate against the government, may they be political or judicial, with an emphasis that the movement must move beyond honking trucks and weekend protests, and focus on getting results.

“Victory over fear”; I would rather say “Victory over all talk and no action”. Agree with them or not, some people out there are serious about changing things, you have to give them that.

And this change of attitude is long overdue. Some speakers made it plain their goal was regime change in BC and all across Canada. The crowd made it plain it was done with the likes of Justin Trudeau and John Horgan. Kari Simpson even advanced that the house behind her was our house and we needed to claim it back. More than one speaker admitted they would never have considered activism or politics before the last couple of years’ events (me neither), but they were so aggravated that they stepped forward anyway, doing whatever it takes to make things happen (me too).

Banner: I Am Free Canadian.ca #WhateverItTakes #FreedomIsEssential #HugsOverMasks — #WhateverItTakes. I like that one.

Multiple avenues were proposed. One was to take over the Conservative Party of Canada with our own faction which focuses on human rights, while some in the crowd would rather support the People’s Party of Canada. Another proposal was to participate in party leadership races, the idea being that a vote to select a party leader carries much more weight than a vote in a general election since far fewer voters participate at this level. Of course judicial action was emphasised, with Brian Peckford himself spearheading it at the federal level with a constitutional challenge to federal COVID mandates.

This speaker was serious about overtaking the Conservative Party of Canada from within by starting a new faction, and he’s actually running for office.

One original idea from Brian Peckford is the prospect of sweeping constitutional amendments, which he enumerated from what he refers to as his “Canadian Magna Carta“, and which would enshrine several basic principles such as full disclosure of politicians’ financial assets, greater government transparency, limits on the Prime Minister’s office and powers, Canadian sovereignty and independence from international bodies, ban on people who break the law from holding office, and mandatory civic education; in short, a drastic overhaul of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If ever there was a moment for such a change, it has to be nowadays, in the aftermath of our biggest constitutional crisis in modern History.

This event may not have attracted the largest audience, but it was the longest and the one generating the most enthusiasm. The people on the steps stood there for about three hours listening to speeches, while my arms went numb holding the camera in place for so long.

Here comes my criticism though: there were too many ideas and agendas, some of which had nothing to do with freedom, like promoting a Christian nation, banning abortion, or striking down sex education in school, to the point that the mob would occasionally push back in an awkward manner during speeches. What this movement needs the most at this point is focus: Get behind a common platform that is easy to spell and agree on, then rally behind a single plan and move all together toward that goal. Otherwise…

This notable figure had a lot of personal grievances to air before the crowd.

…well, allow me to make my point by showing you an amusing counter-protest that took place today by a handful of angry party-crashers who really, really hate Canada, going as far as burning a Canadian flag on the sidewalk. Their main problem of course is that they had more views and grievances than participants, which really made them look like a bunch of doofuses. They were simultaneously chanting that Trans Lives Matter, protesting about a globalist power grab, claiming that vaccines save lives, ranting about white replacement theory, and calling for colonialists to give back the whole country’s lands to the First Nations—and I’m skipping a few. No one in the vicinity could tell what the fuck they were about or what they were trying to achieve, just that they were very angry about lots of things and desperate for attention (although they ironically didn’t like my camera very much). This is what happens to a group without focus, and that’s definitely not where the nascent rights and freedom movement should be headed.

Burning the Canadian flag? Dressed like a wannabe anarchist?

He got ticketed by the police, by the way. Ha ha ha.

That’s my message to the movement: rally behind a simple idea, even if your pet proposal doesn’t make it through, and devote all of your collective efforts toward making it a reality, because that’s the difference between people who achieve something and those who merely rant on Facebook that something needs to be done. Today, I saw the potential for the movement to go down either road, and I’m doing my best to steer it down the former, leaving the latter to crackpots with too much time on their hands. Protesting is no mere hobby, it’s serious business, and it’s time we start treating it as such. Step up your game plan and get involved.

Some represented organisations: