Protests remain an important part of Victoria’s civic landscape

Victoria is a protest city.

The right to safe, peaceful, and lawful protest, “within limits” is protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some of those limits relate to Section 423 of the Criminal Code which makes it an indictable offense to compel “another person to abstain from doing anything that he or she has a lawful right to do, or to do anything that he or she has a lawful right to abstain from doing.”

People protest for many reasons, mainly to voice discontent, advocate for change, and challenge injustices. Sometimes to process collective grief. At its core, protesting is a powerful expression of democracy and civil engagement, often emerging when traditional channels for dialogue and change seem inadequate or unresponsive.

“As a capital city, we’re accustomed to protests, and this year doesn’t feel any different to me than any other. We’ve always been a site of regular protests since at least the early ’70s and we support people's right to demonstrate,” said Victoria city councillor Jeremy Caradonna.

Perhaps as a reflection of the city’s reputation, protestors are coincidentally considerate. Aimie Bronee, manager of communications and engagement for Victoria told Capital Daily, “Typically, not a lot of waste is left behind following a protest, and no additional waste collection by city crews is required. The only costs would be if something like paint was used and required cleanup, but this is rare.”

One significant motivation behind protests is social justice. Individuals and groups mobilize to demand equal rights, fair treatment, or an end to discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or other identities. Issues like police brutality, economic inequality, and environmental degradation also prompt protests, highlighting systemic flaws that impact marginalized communities and the environment.

Victoria has a robust history of protests and has been the site of many significant protest events over the past and the current decades.

To monitor and respond to protests, VicPD often deploys temporary monitoring CCTV cameras in public spaces during demonstrations in accordance with BC and national privacy legislation. Signage to bring awareness that these cameras are in use is put up in protest areas. The cameras are removed after protest events.

The year 2021 saw the Fairy Creek protests, the largest and longest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history, surpassing even the Clayoquot protests. More than 1,100 protestors were arrested over eight months, in their attempt to halt old-growth logging in the Port Renfrew area by Teal Jones Group.

Those protests often played out in Victoria’s streets and, as recently as September 2023, people gathered outside of NDP MLA Grace Lore’s constituency office arguing that she and her NDP colleagues weren’t doing enough to protect old growth on the Island at a time of climate change-related drought, record-breaking wildfires and disappearing forests across the province.

Reflecting on that protest two years later, Shawna Knight, one of the key Fairy Creek organizers, told the CBC, “We put everyone in danger and they just got beat up. And we actually didn’t even get any permanent protections put in on those forests. We spent a lot of money, we raised a lot of hell and I don’t know if we really accomplished what we intended to do.”

However, in April, Teal Jones filed for creditor protection for losses of $300M and the provincial government has approved a legal order to extend the deferral of old-growth harvesting in the Fairy Creek watershed until Feb. 1, 2025. The provincial government announced it would extend the deferral of old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek watershed until February 2025.

That was also the year of significant protests in Victoria, in support of Wet'suwet'en land defenders fighting to keep the Coastal Gas Link pipeline from being built across their unceded territory in the Northern Interior. In November, hundreds took to the streets to express their anger over the arrest of Wet’suwet’en land defenders and two journalists at Gidim’ten checkpoint camp just approximately 40 km outside of Houston, along the Morice River.

Economic grievances also fuel protests against austerity measures, labour conditions, or corporate practices perceived as exploitative. Workers, consumers, and activists unite to demand fair wages, better working conditions, or corporate accountability.

Economic impact and civil liberties were at the heart of We Unify Canada protests, often referred to as the “trucker protests,” after a convoy of trucks from across the country converged in the nation’s capital. At the time, truckers who did not wish to get vaccinated against COVID-19 were not permitted by the federal government to cross over the Canada-US border and many lost their jobs and livelihoods. The requirement to vaccinate also impacted workers across multiple sectors, including the health sector.

Political protests arise from dissatisfaction with government policies, actions, or leadership. Citizens use protests to push for policy reforms, defend democratic principles, or resist authoritarianism. Whether it's challenging corrupt regimes or advocating for policies that address climate change, these actions amplify public concerns and aim to influence decision-makers.

More recently, protests against the ongoing Israeli war on Palestine have become a weekly occurrence. Most Saturdays, people gather at the Legislature and march through the streets calling for a ceasefire to the conflict in which roughly 1,883 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 39K Palestinians—mostly women and children have died. Recent data-based reporting by the Lancet suggests that the number of Palestinian deaths indirectly related to the war may be as high as 186K.

Victoria City Council and VicPD have handled these protests adeptly. The protests have largely gone without major incidents or injury. And the rights of protestors to temporarily occupy public spaces has largely been respected. That doesn’t mean there are no repercussions.

Five Indigenous youth for Wet'suwet'en were arrested for mischief after they refused to leave the lawn of the Legislature in 2020. In 2022, Save Old Growth demonstrators were arrested for repeatedly blocking main highways in and out of the city. Two people were arrested when, according to VicPD the environment became "unsafe" at a gender rights protest at the Legislature in September 2023. In December of that year, a man was charged with assault with a weapon and one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle after he swerved his vehicle towards pro-Palestinian protestors.

The right to protest also comes at a fiscal cost.

In an April public agenda package ( Board Meetings & Minutes) VicPD records indicate that the direct costs of protests for the first quarter of 2024 (January 1 – March 31) was $206K. That amount is billed back to the Legislative Assembly (not the city). The group responsible for policing the protests is an integrated team—the Greater Victoria Public Safety Unit, comprising force members primarily from VicPD and Saanich.

VicPD has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in place to recover policing costs related to protests that have a nexus with the Legislature. However, Griffen Hohl, VicPD communications coordinator said it “doesn't capture other protests or events that occur beyond that, or cover the significant work that goes into liaising with protest groups each week as they plan their events.”

Protest is disruptive by design. Inconveniencing others to raise awareness and to make a statement isn’t always appreciated or rewarded. When asked about feedback from Victoria’s  businesses and public, Bronee said, “The city has not received recent correspondence about protests from businesses.”