Feature Story                                                                                                Wednesday November 23, 2011

Occupy Fraser Valley Movement Hits Chilliwack

Peaceful protest draws little interest

Staff/Voice photos

Occupy Fraser Valley organiser speaks to pedestrians and passing cars Saturday at Central Community Park in Chilliwack.

hey came, they occupied, they left.

A handful of people from the Occupy Fraser Valley movement set up a day camp Saturday in the corner of Central Park in Chilliwack and all-in-all it was a pretty mellow affair.

A woman spoke through a bullhorn aimed at passing cars and curious pedestrians. Others handed out Zeitgeist pamphlets from a table the group had table set up under a canopy.

Organiser Karly Engstrom spoke with the Voice at the park about what they were trying to achieve in Chilliwack.

“I really think we’re just trying to raise awareness,” explained Engstrom. “There are a lot of issues that directly affect people here and a lot of people don’t know.”

She cited the Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA) debate as on of the things people should be concerned about.

Some people had voiced concern that occupiers might try to take over the Peace Walk which coincided with the Occupy Rally but Engstrom insisted that wasn’t the case.

“There was something said about us hijacking the Peace March which is what we totally not wanted to do,” she said. “We really want to support it for sure and make it very clear that we are supporting the Peace March.”

“The Peace March isn’t supporting us, and not only that, but a lot of our members wanted to attend (the march) because we believe in that cause. Drugs and gang violence is a symptom of a broken system and that’s something that really needs to be addressed because lives are being ruined and it’s definitely an important issue that affects all of us.”

Occupy organizers just needed a place to be heard and give others a chance to speak to the topic in Chilliwack.

“We don’t really have a public forum where people can express their discontent and so that’s something we want to provide by using public space for that.”

What kind of a response are you getting here today?

Engstrom said they had “counter-protestors” at their assembly in Abbotsford a couple of weeks ago.

“It was cool actually, they were holding up signs saying “Capitalism Rocks” and stuff like that, it was really awesome.”

Occupiers said they received an amicable response from Chilliwack residents as they handed out copies of their “statement of unity” which was generated through a consensus in Abbotsford.

“It’s going really well,” said Engstrom. “People are really receptive and everyone’s been really nice and people are stopping by to talk and listen to other people speak.”

Engstrom admitted they are a young and basically inexperienced group and they stand in solidarity with other Occupy groups however they are often stigmatized as dope smoking hippies so they suggest folks visit with them at a rally.

“People may not be online with Occupy Fraser Valley, but if they believe in positive change, they don’t have to join us or anything, but come down and check us out, come meet us, see what we have to say.”

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