A slate of rallies is set at the Peace Arch to support Canadian-American relations on April 5-6 and April 12.
Birch Bay resident Bob Edwardsen and Vancouver resident Susan Stern will hold a peaceful demonstration from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 5. The gathering is intended to support the two countries’ mutual alliance and object to the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty. Public officials on both sides of the border from the local to federal level have been invited.
“The treatment of Canadians, and the economic and sovereign threats offended me to the core,” Edwardsen said. “I thought something needed to be done to try to inspire some constructive action to work toward reconciliation.”
Washington State Parks, U.S. Border Patrol and CBP have been notified, Edwardsen said. He invited anyone who would like to volunteer to email him at bobedwardsen@gmail.com.
Indivisible Bellingham, a grassroots organization promoting non-violent civic engagement, and Canadian citizens have jointly organized a “Peace, Love and a Handshake” rally under the Peace Arch from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, April 6 and Saturday, April 12. The rally is intended to be a peaceful celebration of friendship between the two countries, with flags and signs conveying positive messages welcome.
The “Peace, Love and a Handshake” group has held rallies on March 22 and March 29, each growing in size, with the most recent one gathering over 100 people.
Organizer Haidee Landry, of B.C., said her first Peace Arch demonstration began in mid-March, when she was going to the park to discuss organizing rallies with American friends. She walked around the Peace Arch with a Canadian flag held high on her hockey stick and was joined by her American friends.
“I started to become concerned for my American friends during the first week of the new administration,” Landry said. “I saw groups of people were being ‘othered.’ There’s a lot of division … I contacted my friends to say that our American neighbors could be in trouble and how to support them.”
The “Peace, Love and a Handshake” rally has invited a number of public officials to participate.
Each rally includes a handshake ceremony between Canadians and Americans that Landry said can be an emotional experience. Some people need a hug more than a handshake, Landry said, adding that she’s held men as they’ve wept.
“Americans are thankful that Canadians aren’t mad at them,” Landry said. “We’re able to distinguish the difference between the government and the American people.”
Landry said rallies will be planned after April 12, but dates haven’t been set.
“Things are changing quickly and we don’t know if we’ll have the freedom to do what we’re doing,” she said.
