XR Vancouver concludes two weeks of International Rebellion with music-fueled snake march

Members and supporters of Extinction Rebellion Vancouver (XR Vancouver) took to the streets yet again on Friday evening in protest of climate injustice, joined by many UBC students both in coordinator and participant roles.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is an international grassroots movement founded in the U.K. that has called on world governments to implement citizen’s assemblies to “investigate, discuss and make recommendations on how to respond to the climate emergency.” XR announced the second and third weeks of October as the two weeks of “International Rebellion,” during which representatives in over sixty cities worldwide have engaged in mass demonstrations of civil disobedience.

The two weeks were kicked off in Vancouver with the occupation of Burrard Bridge on Monday, October 7th, and were concluded with the Downtown Snake March on Friday, October 18th.

“Sometimes you don’t have to speak over the water,” said a Tsleil-Waututh representative, standing before a loud fountain and addressing a rain-ready crowd of about 150 protesters outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre at the commencement of the march. “You have to join your voice with the water.”

The march began at 4:30 p.m. outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on West Georgia & Hamilton, and set off West along Hamilton. Beyond that, the route was decided in the moment, with coordinators atop a truck encouraging protesters to dance in the direction they wanted the march to continue, and a police liaison running between the truck and police motorcycles at the front to relay the information.

Police escorts brought up the front and rear, and a human-propelled truck and trailer served as a parade float in the centre.

Extended stops were occasionally made, most notably an impromptu die-in on West Georgia, just outside of Pacific Centre’s glass dome entrance, where demonstrators played dead as a form of protest. With the possible exception of the die-in, no one driver or commuter was stalled for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time, though many stalled drivers looked exhausted.

Informational pamphlets were distributed both to drivers and pedestrians. Shortly after the die-in, the march proceeded and melded outside the Hotel Georgia with hotel employees who were striking against poor working conditions and negligent treatment of sexual harassment cases.

The event’s Facebook page received many critical posts from non-participants who complained of XR’s negative impact on the daily lives of middle-class citizens and suggested that activities based on community service like beach clean-ups would be more beneficial. But organizers and protesters alike were adamant that the disruptive elements were essential.

“What is necessary is really ... systemic change through legislation, and the adoption of these citizens assemblies,” said Edison Huang, a fourth-year cognitive science major at UBC and a coordinator for XR Vancouver. “And these changes, of course, followed in the footsteps of figures such as the women's suffrage movement, Gandhi and MLK (Martin Luther King Jr). Of course, people have criticized those people in the past as well for being disruptive.”

Milena Krondl, a third-year history major who participated in Friday’s march, said she joined XR because they’re optimistic that environmentally harmful systems can be changed, if people take action.

“I wanted to join Extinction Rebellion because it’s currently the only movement that gives me hope in having a future, to be honest. It’s not about our children’s children’s future. It’s about our future,” she said.

But Krondl believes disruption is necessary for spurring real change.

“The point of Extinction Rebellion is saying that these individual actions such as idling for ten minutes more in your car is not going to make a difference. The issue is that these little changes that people are making in their everyday lives isn't changing anything long term,” she said. “And it's very empowering to see people acknowledging that peaceful legal protest isn't working.”

A small fraction of passers-by voiced displeasure with the march, but a majority of pedestrians and shop-workers either expressed support or confusion. Many pedestrians joined the march, and even mounted the float, seemingly on a whim.

At one point, a solitary counter-protester, who had created a sign against XR, joined in to dance with the rest of the protesters. Plenty of cars honked at the sight of the march, and they were met with loud cheering in reply.

The march concluded at about 7 p.m. outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

In the future, XR Vancouver plans to hold more demonstrations of civil disobedience.

Mayaan Kreitzman, a coordinator for XR Vancouver and aPhD student researching perennial agriculture, noted that XR UBC, an off-shoot of XR Vancouver, has been staging die-ins outside of Santa Ono’s front door every Friday for the last five weeks.

“We are conducting a variety of different types of actions,” Kreitzman added. “Some of them are bigger, and some of them are more spontaneous and smaller. But altogether, the movement is building and growing, and we see that in our numbers here in Vancouver and around the world.”

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