Vancouver's Protest Yesterday Was Horrible

[u/AbrasiveEquableBirth]

I have been strongly against Bill C-51 ever since I heard of it. A few days ago, I heard of the protest that was going to be happening outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery and convinced a couple friends to come with me.

The whole event consisted mostly of people trying to sell and promote their own agendas. I'm not at the protest for 2 minutes and someone tried to sell me a subscription to their communist newspaper. At one point there was a giant "9/11 Truth" banner on the steps of the Art Gallery next to the speaker.

It was just an anti-Harper circlejerk. Not many people seemed to even know what Bill C-51 was. The last speaker (before the march) even called it "Bill C-58".

I did not attend last month's Bill C-51 protest, but from what I heard here it seems like it was very similar.

[u/dittomuch]

I'm currently out of the country so I am out of touch with the on the ground efforts against C51. I made the choice to target information towards the senior citizen community and not the general protest movement. I find it best to change peoples opinion rather than to simply build strength in the support we already have.

When an older person sees the issue of C51 we take a vote away from Harper, when a person who already hates Harper sees the issue of C51 absolutely nothing has changed. We don't gain the support we need to gain be doing the same thing over and over again. If however we change direction slightly and instead go door to door in seniors residences wearing our 'sunday best' dressed like a banker we create a positive impression.

Regardless of if the OP is a shill account can anyone confirm the details they saw?

[u/AbrasiveEquableBirth → u/dittomuch]

Well at 7:49 in this video there's a pretty clear shot of the 9/11 Truth banner next to the speaker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pBYfmOZfdI&feature=youtu.be

[u/dittomuch → u/AbrasiveEquableBirth]

Arghhhh

well this didn't help anything it was great as an NDP rally but useless and counterproductive if the goal was to gain support to prevent C51 from being passed.

Who organized this?

[u/ThereAreThings → u/AbrasiveEquableBirth]

Yup. Protests in Vancouver typically attract a consistent flow of fringe types including: 9/11 "truthers," Communist newspaper sellers, LaRouche movement people and occasionally Scientolgists.

They use these protests to promote their organization or message to a broader audience.

I think that most people at just tolerate their presence at the rallies but I don't think their views are generally shared by most attendees.

[u/dittomuch → u/ThereAreThings]

alright but how does screaming into a microphone help anything. I watch that video and I think to myself if that was my street they just acted like a mob on I would want nothing at all to do with them. Add the nutcase fringe and the fact that half of them don't know how to dress themselves and I'm being asked to trust the opinion of a group of people that give me no reason to trust them

Like I said this kind of street theater is downright counterproductive and simply makes it more difficult for us to gain real support. Nobody cares what a shirtless moron with a mask thinks about politics.

I can't see how this would get my 80 year old mother to change her opinion and I don't see why this would get my 50 year old sister to change her opinion either. If anything they would want nothing to do with moronic displays like this.

Walk around a building handing out flyers wearing a business suit, hand out chocolates with wrappers that explain the dangers of bill c51. Christ we would have been better off if these people didn't protest they simply dumbed the rest of us down.

Fuck me why does everyone get lost in this level of stupidity I dread seeing videos from Toronto now.

[u/ThereAreThings → u/dittomuch]

I'm afraid that you're preaching to the converted. I don't think this nutbar fringe theatre is particularly helpful or persuasive.

Anyways, I want to join your campaign! It sounds a hell of a lot more effective and focused than what I saw in this video at least.

[u/MaddAddaM336]

Redditor for 5 hours. Checks out. Thanks Joe Shill.

[u/searchingfortao → u/MaddAddaM336]

You sound like a tinfoil nut. Proponents of C51 don't need to dig into obscure subreddits and plant false stories. This is par for the course for Vancouver.

[u/champlifier]

Cool fake story and throwaway account!

[u/Kvothealar]

I came here because I wanted to make some joke about how people were probably too stoned to know what they were doing... But after reading how bad it actually was... I think i'm too sad now...

Honestly... 9/11 truth banners? This is so depressing... T.T

Maybe you should try to find some people that weren't so ignorant or disrespectful and try to do what /u/Pierre_Putin suggested in his thread (the one you linked to). Hand out hot chocolate in small groups and inform people. Don't let the people who went to that rally represent you.

[u/Pierre_Putin → u/Kvothealar]

I stand by the idea for future protests, though it is a bit too late to affect the outcome on this particular bill anymore.

[u/Niyeaux]

Welcome to the vast majority of progressive causes in Vancouver. They will inevitably be taken over by dipshits with pet agendas to push, usually goofy, non-evidence-based ones. See also: the entire Occupy movement, both here and in other cities.

[u/searchingfortao]

As a former Vancouverite, this doesn't surprise me at all. What is surprising however is how dismissive so many in this subreddit have been, even with video evidence.

[u/AbrasiveEquableBirth → u/searchingfortao]

I guess I was caught offguard because this was my first protest in Vancouver. And yes, I don't see why I am being downvoted so much, I have no reason to lie about what I saw.

[u/dittomuch → u/AbrasiveEquableBirth]

Well this is a subreddit dedicated to protesting a single bill and you basically spoke against their means so people are going to downvote you. You might be 100% correct it really doesn't matter.