Grassroots organizers say they are amazed by the response from people who want to join the women’s march on Washington or sister marches that are planned in Canada and around the world. The marches were set up for Saturday, January 21 in reaction to fears that women’s human rights may be threatened under U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
Canadian organizers started by reserving four buses to take participants to Washington and had to add one every day because of the response. By January 19 they had ordered 11 buses. In addition, rallies have been organized in 13 Canadian cities. So far, a total of 65 solidarity marches are planned in 32 countries.
‘Overwhelming’ response
“The response has been overwhelming,” says Marissa McTasney, leader of the Canadian Women March volunteer team and one of four people who began planning Canadian participation on November 12. “We cannot win the email war, that’s for sure.”
Listen
Canadian participation has won the support of Amnesty International Canada, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Canadian Labour Congress which represents unions across the country.
“We hope that we can continue to make progress (on women’s rights) and protect where we are today,” says McTasney. “I think there is some fear that our current values and policies are going to regress. And due to the rhetoric of the last election, we don’t want this tone and language to become the norm.”
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.