I’m walking through Gastown after having lunch downtown.
A handful of people screaming f-bombs catches my attention. They’re standing in the middle of the road. Police officers are redirecting cars to avoid them.
It’s Canada’s Birthday - so I’m curious. A parade of some sort gone wrong??
Negative.
Not a celebratory performance of Kumbaya. There’s at least 12+ cops on site. They don’t look happy - or bored, the usual.
This I gotta see. I stand to the side and watch, along with 20 others. There is no sense of danger or urgency. Staff from nearby restaurants watch from the sidewalk as well.
This is why Gastown and DTES are so damn interesting - SO MUCH CHARACTER.
There’s a white guy in a leather jacket and black face mask with a skull on it, holding a boombox and screaming something unintelligible. He looks pissed.
Meanwhile his comrades, people of Aboriginal descent - I think - are gathered around him.
They’re standing in front of a statue in the heart of Gastown. Gassy Jack. No joke - that’s his f*cking name. He must have been bullied in school with a name like that - what were his parents thinking???
The protesters are not speaking clear enough for me to hear what they’re protesting about. I hear random words here and there, like Squamish.
A few minutes in, I figure out what they’re after. To confirm, I walk towards a police officer standing alone.
Me: What do they want?
Him: It’s dumb. They want the statue removed.
I don’t blame the cop for being annoyed. It’s raining and grey. Traffic is being disrupted. There’s Covid. The dude in the leather jacket looks like a maniac pouncing around - I wouldn’t want to be around him either. Luckily I’m a safe 10 meters away.
After one more glance, I start walking away. I hear more police sirens heading towards the statue. More back up for the cops.
Back at the loft, I tell X what I saw. He nods and mentions he saw something in the news about the statue. I grab my laptop.
A quick search later, I can’t help but think - this is pretty dark and twisty.
Gassy Jack was a 40 year old white dude who married a 12 year old girl from Squamish….
WTF???!!!
There’s a statue in the middle of Gastown - celebrating a pedophile.
Happy Canada Day folks.