Island communities join Women’s March

Vancouver Island communities are rallying today for the Women’s March in solidarity with dozens of towns and cities across the country and beyond.

A march that began as a protest last year against a newly minted American president has morphed into a broad pushback against long-standing systems and a call for empowerment for all marginalized groups, advocates and organizers said Friday.

As dozens of communities across Canada prepare to host rallies marking the anniversary of last year’s historic Women’s March on Washington, those tasked with organizing the events said they feel a sense of momentum that they could not have predicted when they first took to the streets in 2017.

At that time, more than half a million women converged on the U.S. capital in protest of freshly inaugurated President Donald Trump, whose secretly recorded remarks about taking sexual liberties with women fuelled accusations of misogyny both before and after his election.

Participants in those original marches say their fears about the incoming administration have come to pass, but say other social forces have put wind in their sails and made them feel their cause is further ahead now than it was a year ago.

At least 38 Canadian communities from coast to coast plan to host marches, rallies or other events.

Sara Bingham, co-executive director of Women’s March Canada, said the high number of planned events is just one sign of the momentum that believers in the cause are feeling.

“It’s incredibly positive and optimistic and exciting,” Bingham said of the mood among local organizers. “They’re mystified and amazed that they can effect change in such a quick way.”

Bingham and other activists point to a shift in the way women’s voices have been heard and acknowledged in the months since the original march.

They all reference the #MeToo phenomenon, an outpouring of women speaking out against their experiences with sexual harassment. That outpouring was itself the result of powerful men, including Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein, being called to account for alleged sexual misconduct. • In Victoria — The event starts at 11 a.m. with speakers in Centennial Square, followed by a march to the legislature. • In Nanaimo — The march starts at Diana Krall Plaza at 10 a.m., moving south on Commercial Street, and north along the sidewalk on Terminal Avenue to Maffeo-Sutton Park. Speakers and music will begin at the park around 11 a.m. • In the Comox Valley — The event starts at 10 a.m. at the lawn of the courthouse, 420 Cumberland Rd., Courtenay. • On Salt Spring Island — At 1 p.m. speakers and music begin, followed by a walk through Ganges and a return to the library.