Chants like “Say it loud! Say it clear! Immigrants are welcome here!” rang out as around 40 anti-racists confronted about half as many “yellow vests” in front of Vancouver City Hall on Saturday. The so called "yellow vests" were there to support the National Citizen's Alliance, a far-right fringe party. Their rally was called to to spread a message of hatred against Muslims, to support closed borders and the abuse of indigenous rights via expanded pipeline projects, and to support the xenophobia and racism of the NCA and Maxime Bernier's "People's Party."
Counter-protesters were there to outnumber them and present a pro-refugee and anti-islamophobic message to passers by. The anti-racists were much better organized then their opponents with a variety of signs and banners including, “Neon Nazis Go Home!” and “Unite & Fight: Blame austerity not migrants.”
Our side outnumbered the far right this time, but not by much and it wasn’t a crushing defeat for the racists. If you are on facebook, check out the Stand Up To Racism Metro Vancouver page: StandUpNowYVR to find out about upcoming rallies, so next time we can bring out the numbers to drive the fascists off of our streets.