Peace Under Burrard Bridge, Vancouver, 1986

The year was 1986. Vancouver had proclaimed itself the peace capital of North America (Council had declared the city a nuclear-free-zone 3-years-before). In March, over 100,000 people rallied against nuclear weapons, winding over and under the Burrard Street Bridge, as seen in the photo above.

Vancouver, and the “left coast” in general, has earned its reputation as a centre of political activism.

I’m not just talking about the latest pipeline protest or fish farm occupation; those are certainly top of mind, but the first colonies were beset with strife as First Nations fought for their lands and culture at the same time as imported, indentured labour — at Vancouver Island coal mines, for instance — fought back against dangerous and oppressive working conditions. Strikes were met with military suppression.

Vancouver was the staging ground for The On To Ottawa Trek, in 1935. Workers had fled the “slave camps” of BC determined to protest their servitude in Ottawa. The uprising ended in a violent, pitched battle in Winnipeg and the ultimate fall of the ruling Conservative Party government.

I maintain a gallery here that I call Faces of Resistance, dedicated to some of the many photographs I have made over the years (note to self: time to add more, starting with the image above) at rallies, protests, and riots.

The Museum of Vancouver is showcasing a photography exhibition at the moment, running until February 2018, titled City at the Edge: a Century of Vancouver Activism. I must try to attend.

Incidentally, this site is presently flooded with traffic directed from a feature in webzine VANCOUVER IS AWESOME, which has several new photos from the Eighties Vancouver portfolio, including the one prefacing this post.

A good start to the week!