As thousands of demonstrators turned out for Women’s March events held in cities across Canada and the U.S., organizers here were surprised by the size and heartiness of the crowd in Winnipeg, given the frigid conditions.
“They were so awesome, we actually got a few more people than we anticipated showing up this year,” said Hillary Dux, one of the organizers of the Winnipeg Women’s March. “The legislative building has been so kind to let us warm up inside, and we’ve got some hot coffee, but we definitely kept the program shorter because of the weather.”
Around 100 people took part in the march on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature. Dux said their participation was telling.
“I think it shows that people have faith and believe we need to unite together and get out to talk about women’s issues and women’s rights,” she said.
The widespread demonstration is in its third year, but Dux said the Winnipeg chapter of the March is brand new. She said the aim is to highlight issues like women’s health care, representation, safety and equality.
She also said many of the participants donned red scarves to draw attention to violence against women, “Particularly Indigenous women and girls, because the statistics are really frightening these days,” she said.
“Now the next step is to go home and figure out, what can we do, what can we keep working on to keep the focus on these issues so we don’t go home and forget about it at the end of the day.”
