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The Canadian Press<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada Guy\u201d waves a Canadian flag during an Alberta independence rally at the Alberta legislature, in Edmonton on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about you, but I miss the good ol\u2019 days,\u201d he declares.<\/p>\n
At this, the crowd cheers. Derges has not specified exactly what \u201cthe good ol\u2019 days\u201d means, but for this audience, he doesn\u2019t have to. This speech is designed to motivate those here who already believe that Canada is irrevocably broken, that the life they earned or deserve has been stolen by Ottawa, that the only solution is to leave confederation.<\/p>\n
Or at least, to threaten to leave.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a strange Saturday afternoon in Alberta\u2019s capital, just two days to go before the referendum. The night before, thousands of people dressed in maple-leaf garb streamed into Edmonton\u2019s Expo Centre, where Prime Minister Mark Carney came back to his hometown for a rally hosted by former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk\u2019s Forever Canadian campaign.<\/p>\n
Now, it\u2019s the separatists\u2019 turn. A little over an hour before their rally was set to begin, a vicious windstorm screamed over the city. Gusts reached nearly 100 kilometres an hour and knocked out power in some neighbourhoods; but it died down just as the 3 p.m. start time approached, so the rally went on as planned.<\/p>\n
For the most part, the attendees, some of whom arrived by bus from Calgary, are relaxed, even friendly. Those in the front, just by the legislature steps, sit on lawn chairs; those in the back mingle, chatting about everything from family to hockey and also how Canada would soon be under the control of Communist China.<\/p>\n
They are all supporters of the separatist vote, but there is some variation in what they see as their ultimate goal. The most dominant slogan is the one about sending Ottawa a message; one woman carries a flag declaring for a Republic of Alberta, but also a sign that reads \u201cI am Canadian. I will not sit down. I will not shut up. I want my country back.\u201d<\/p>\n
One man with a salt-and-pepper beard moseys around the rally. In this sea of blue, he stands out in a custom red jacket, on which is printed an apparent Alberta state crest with stars-and-stripes, a stylized bald eagle, and the banner \u201cAlberta USA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sensing an interesting character, some reporters flock to him for comment. If Alberta were to become a U.S. state, he tells them, everything would be cheaper, with more freedom, and better than in Canada.<\/p>\n
Up on a paved courtyard overlooking the legislature grounds, a handful of pro-Canadian protesters stand by a glass railing, trading occasional barbs with passing separatists. One man, bearing an Alberta flag and holding a camera, is embroiled in a heated debate with one of the protesters; he\u2019s filming the interaction for his YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me one reason to have hope in the future of Canada,\u201d he calls out.<\/p>\n
At this, the protester he was arguing with walks away; but another young man steps forward. He cuts an unassuming figure, wearing blue jeans and a worn brown hoodie. In one hand he holds a small blue Alberta flag handed out by rally volunteers; but affixed to his backpack is the Forever Canadian campaign\u2019s maple-leaf banner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll give you a reason,\u201d he tells the YouTuber.<\/p>\n
His name is Geoffrey Pike, and in many ways, he\u2019s not unlike most of the folks at the rally. He\u2019s 30 years old, and works in construction. He was born in Alberta, lived for a bit in British Columbia, and came home to this, the province he loves. He works hard, has struggled, does his best to get by \u2014 and he is, very much, proud to be Canadian.<\/p>\n
Where he finds hope in Canada, he tells the YouTuber, is in the people. There are a lot of good, hard-working people in the country, he says. Yes, people are frustrated, and often for very valid reasons. But there\u2019s no reason to break up the country over those things.<\/p>\n
At this the YouTuber\u2019s demeanour visibly softens. That\u2019s the first good answer he\u2019s heard, he says. The two chat for a few minutes, and the conversation is measured. Canada was \u201cset up in such a fragile way from the beginning,\u201d the YouTuber says; they could build something better, with more checks and balances, and a better system for Indigenous people.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something else the YouTuber brings up as a point of frustration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe convoy was rolling through, and everyone was ridiculing us for having Canadian flags,\u201d the YouTuber says. \u201cWe tried to unify in Canada, and then they ridiculed us, they called us racists when they saw Canadian flags. The shoe\u2019s on the other foot now, we\u2019ve got a different flag, and they hate us now for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike shrugs. \u201cI would never let someone using the flag like that prevent me from using my flag.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man gazes at him. \u201cI think you\u2019re one of the more reasonable people I\u2019ve ever met, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the next two hours, Pike weaves through the rally, speaking with anyone who comes up to him. I come across him again and again, each time in conversation with a different group of two or three people. He speaks calmly, asks questions, listens to what they say. He doesn\u2019t pretend to have all the answers for their anger; he also doesn\u2019t let his own take over.<\/p>\n
When one grey-bearded man gets in his face, raving about European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and the New World Order, Pike turns and walks away, stating firmly that he is done with the conversation. The man chides him for getting emotional.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I\u2019m emotional,\u201d Pike calls back, over his shoulder. \u201cI love this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
As I watch him, I realize I\u2019m seeing something quietly remarkable, and maybe a little forgotten. Pike came to the rally, he tells me later, not knowing what would happen. He didn\u2019t have a grand plan to change minds. Yet in his patience, and his willingness to listen while holding firm to his convictions, he demonstrated something important.<\/p>\n
We can still talk to each other. We are still more alike than different. We can, in most cases, still find common ground.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cMaybe this is a good place to have these conversations, because you\u2019re never going to see that guy again,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s just easier to relax, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the rally sidles toward its close, I spot Pike again, this time back on the courtyard above the grounds. He\u2019s chatting with a fresh-faced 18-year-old man in a cowboy hat; they\u2019re even laughing a bit, like friends. The teen cast his ballot in the advance vote already: he voted to begin another referendum to leave Canada.<\/p>\n
It was the first time the teen had voted in anything, he adds. Pike thanks him, with a genuine positivity. He should always vote for everything he can, Pike tells him. He should always make sure to participate in the society around him. The young man seems pleased that his interest in the nation\u2019s affairs is recognized.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody is patriotic until someone tries to leave,\u201d the teen says. \u201cWhere were all the Canadian flags before?\u201d<\/p>\n
melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Melissa Martin Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Melissa produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter-at-large
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