Here's another yearly edition of a conversation we should not need to have, and yet we still do.
On this Moose Hide Campaign Day, approximately 700 people marched in Victoria in solidarity with the indigenous community denouncing violence against women and girls.
The march started at Thunderbird Park at noon, and went on Belleville Street to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. In a spectacular lack of foresight, the path was narrowed by four vans parking by the Royal BC Museum to offload blankets and pads, but the march nevertheless proceeded without incident.
On the lawn of the Legislature, multiple speakers came forward to address the crowd, starting with BC Premier David Eby who gave a perfunctory introduction. More of interest were chiefs Talon Thunderbird and Robert Joseph, who spoke for their respective communities of the harm colonialist policies inflicted upon women.
A group of ladies called Butterflies in Spirit performed for the crowd. But their introduction had more impact that any other intervention: every member stated she represented some relatives who had been murdered in DTES Vancouver, including some by infamous serial killer Robert Pickton.
And that underlines the significance of the event. There was little need to remind the crowd of hundreds why they were marching on this day. The message was the same as in previous years, and required no arguments. The truly sad part is that there will be another march next year, and the year after that.
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Never take your rights for granted. Women in particular know even hard-earned ones are never far from being taken away.
Although the event was a relative success, its outcome leaves me most apprehensive. Regretfully, we had to end it early.
