** This story has been updated.
A “BearHug BC” convoy headed to B.C.’s Lower Mainland on Sunday (March 20), but it appeared nowhere near as large as some expected.
The travellers aim to “unite our communities in love and truth” involving people who have travelled from northern cities and towns in this province as well as Alberta and even Ontario.
The convoy promises “peaceful and lawful” protesting in “a project launched under Canada Unity and its platform specifically addressing the ongoing health orders and restrictions in British Columbia which continue to cause division in our communities,” says a Facebook post that details travel plans in B.C.
The trek began Friday in Burns Lake, Dawson Creek, Vanderhoof, Houston, Smithers and other cities and towns, through Kamloops and Hope on Sunday, on the way to Metro Vancouver and eventually Victoria.
A “meet and greet” was planned Sunday on Lickman Road in Chilliwack from 2 to 3 p.m., before the convoy headed west, with “some” trucks planning to take a ferry to Vancouver Island.
By around 4 p.m. Sunday, a much-autographed “Unity 1” RV was among vehicles in Chilliwack heading to the 176 Pacific border crossing in Surrey, according to a social media post, with video. By around 7 p.m., the RV was seen travelling westbound on Highway 99 in South Surrey, near Mud Bay, with a couple of Canadian flag-adorned vehicles behind it.
It’s not clear if other vehicles later joined the convoy for the trip to Victoria.
Slogan-adorned "Unity1" RV led the "BearHug BC" convoy from northern B.C. to Surrey on Sunday. Wasn't much of a convoy by 7pm, when the RV and a couple of Canadian flag-adorned vehicles travelled westbound on Hwy 99 toward ferries/Victoria. Story: https://t.co/plqX5A8LSW pic.twitter.com/rI2rPO2tcc
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) March 21, 2022
“Over the next few weeks and months, BearHug BC will promote healing of the divisions caused by false narratives,” says the Canada Unity Facebook post. “We will be active in the community every day, raising awareness and supporting each other until we have successfully reversed the damages caused by the health orders and restrictions in our province.”
The post includes hashtags of #BearHugBC, #BearHugCanada, #BearHugUSA and #ConvoyForFeeedomm, and live video shows trucks on the convoy route through Hope and other towns.
BearHug BC is billed as “a humanitarian effort to bring the truth to the public, to unite Canadians in the truth.”
“We have been divided through the false narratives that are being fed through the media and we seek to combat those narratives with our own message of love, truth, and transparency,” says a Facebook post.
“Our purpose is to bring our faces and our stories forward as a testimony to the inherent worth of every human being.”
The Canada Unity Facebook page says it “represents and defends ALL Canadians LAWFUL FREEDOM OF CHOICE. In addition to defending your rights, Our mission is to find and promote the common bonds of CANADA UNITY that our great Country shares.”
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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