Local Yellow Vest protesters are planning to become more involved in the community. The group held a meeting on Thursday to discuss how to better organize and present themselves. Dion Boser, a protester with the group, says there’s a bad perception about different Yellow Vest groups that they’re hoping to separate from.
“There’s a bad outlook on different Yellow Vest groups out there, saying they’re racist and all that. We’re trying to get away from that, we don’t care for that stuff and want to make sure everyone is aware of that,” says Boser.
The local group is hoping to improve community engagement by supporting local charities. Boser wouldn’t say which ones they’re looking to help out just yet but says the focus will be on local organizations to help those affected by economic distress.
“Basically to help people down and out because of the oilfield and resources out here basically being phased out. Anything we can do to help the community, help support them. Maybe they’ll learn a few things from us as well and we can support each other.”
Boser says the group is also hoping to start fundraising for the Yellow Vest truck convoy to Ottawa, scheduled for February 14. He says the group is considering a dance of some kind to help support the convoy, but details for this event are not quite completed yet.
“We want to fundraise for that, and also for the legion to help support our veterans as well. So we’ll be holding that sometime hopefully before the convoy leaves in mid-February.”
Boser says the group is also looking at a new governance structure. He’s heard many other groups ar being viewed as self-appointed leaders for their area. The local group is hoping to organize a democratic system for their group and elect representatives to speak for them instead of having a single leader.
“They’re pretty much going to have our own little democracy in the group and elect a group of representatives to speak on behalf of us, on what the Yellow Vest Manifesto is and what the goals we’re trying to accomplish are. There’s a lot of things in the works, all of them positive.”
The group also hopes to educate anyone interested in their group about the political structures in Canada. They’re inviting people to join them after their rally this weekend, which will be Saturday morning outside City Hall at 11 a.m.