Sunday saw temperatures dip below -30 C with the windchill, but that didn't stop residents from coming out to support their community members. Around 100 people turned up along St. Albert Trail on Sunday afternoon, showing solidarity for immigrants and spreading a message of pro-diversity and love.
In contrast to the weekend prior, where three individuals held up anti-immigration signs and performed a Nazi salute, this time the corner of St. Albert Trail and St. Vital Ave was filled with people dancing, waving pride flags, and celebrating immigration and diversity.
For Pride Corner on Whyte Co-Organizer Erica Posteraro, it was a beautiful sight to see.
"I could cry, honestly," Posteraro said in an interview on Feb. 2. "I was expecting maybe like 20 people or so, and I think we have over 100. So that has been really, really incredible. It just goes to show that people care about their neighbours, they care about immigrants, they care about spreading messages that are positive. It's amazing."
Pride Corner on Whyte started out as a way to combat hateful street preachers in Edmonton. They bought a speaker and flags and started peacefully protesting around them. But it soon grew into a much larger group.
"Before we knew it, we had 50-plus attendees coming to stand with us. We do queer programming, we do frontline activism, we do rallies," she said.
They also want to spread happiness and joy, as pop music played from a nearby speaker. "It's a dance party," Posteraro said.
After what happened on Jan. 25, Posteraro said that it made sense for their group to organize a counter protest.
"We were really upset, especially at this time in history to see these narratives still being pushed and these individuals trying to incite fear and violence is just completely unacceptable. We will not stand for it," she said. "I think that people were looking for someone, or a group to take a spearhead to stand against it. So, we made a post, it got shared super widely, which just goes to show that we're not alone in wanting to stand against those narratives."
Among those in attendance were St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron and Senator Kristopher Wells.
"I had to come, and not just because I'm the mayor and I should show my presence, but I'm also a St. Albert resident born and raised. And I had to be here so I could feel in my own heart that what happened last weekend is not what St. Albert is all about," Heron said.
She added that the number of people, especially in such cold weather, felt fitting as a contrast to the small group of individuals last weekend.
"I think if you take the bookends of the two weekends -- one weekend was a very small number of people saying-- which they have every right to. But to me I would define it as hate speech. It was treading the fine line on that," she said. "And I was very angry and disappointed but even more than that I was kind of sad."
"So this weekend -- and even the week leading up to it -- has been amazing," she said. "It's making me believe that St. Albert is what I always thought it was."
Senator Wells expressed his disappointment in the events last weekend.
"Unfortunately we're seeing hate emboldened all across the world and here in Canada. And to see it on the streets of St. Albert was very disheartening. But to see the response today, over 100 people in -30 weather, I think really speaks to what our true values are," Wells said.
"This is the St. Albert I know and believe in."
He said that although he understood that this wouldn't be the last time they would have to do something like this, it's important to lean into community and make their voices and messages heard.
"Silence makes us complicit in the act of discrimination," he said. "We need to speak louder than hate and lead the way with love."
Posteraro said that what they were doing is the best way to combat over the messaging of the individuals on Jan. 25.
"Not to sound cheesy, but joy is the best way to combat hatred," she said. "We've tried a lot of different tactics and conversations but just seeing happiness and joy is the exact counter opposite to the messaging and what those individuals were trying to portray."
