by Ben Isitt
Victoria, BC -- A banner sporting a crossed-out swastika and the words "Racists Enter Here" adorned the entrance to a Victoria public library on Friday, September 10.
Over 100 anti-racists were on hand to protest an anti-immigration meeting hosted by Victoria lawyer and nazi supporter Doug Christie.
A line of yellow tape separated the Juan de Fuca library's interior from the "Racism-Free Zone" established by protesters outside. Only 45 bigots walked through the guantlet of people to attend Christie's meeting.
As they entered, protesters chanted "Shame" and "They Say Deport, We Say Support."
The counter-demonstration was organized by the Anti Nazi League, a new Victoria group "dedicated to monitoring and challenging the activities of the far right."
Meanwhile, speakers on the library steps included a former Victoria mayor, the leader of the Green Party of Canada, and representatives from several cultural, anti-racism, student, and immigrant-support groups.
Trade unionists representing the Victoria Labour Council, the BC Government and Service Employees Union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the Canadian Auto Workers spoke against the racist anti-immigrant backlash and the opportunities it provided to the neo-Nazi movement.
The next day, anti-racism activists continued the refugee-support campaign on a downtown streetcorner. A man with a shaved head marched past silently, pausing long enough to spit on a welcoming card bearing the signatures of 700 Victoria citizens.
A welcoming party for the fourth boatload of Chinese refugees is planned for 12 noon, Saturday, September 18, on Clifton Rd., a side-street in Esquimalt next to the military gym in which the refugees are being detained.
The welcoming party will be in solidarity with an action taking place at 1:00 pm Saturday at the Immigration Canada offices in Vancouver.
We must raise the banner of anti-racism and support for immigrants and refugees across BC and Canada.