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BARRHEAD - About 30 to 40 protestors demonstrated outside of Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen’s office in Barrhead July 9 in opposition to his recent comments on the overturning of the Roe v. Wade ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, though a slightly smaller crowd of pro-life protestors also showed up to give their support to the MP.
The rally outside of Viersen’s office, located at 5124- 50th St. in Barrhead, was organized by Clyde resident Fiona Lianne in response to a live video that Viersen posted to Facebook on June 24 following the Supreme Court’s decision.
Viersen said this was “history in the making” and referred to the original decision made in 1973 as “the greatest human rights tragedy of our time.”
The rally began at 2 p.m. Initially the scene was somewhat chaotic, with both pro-choice and pro-life protestors mingling on the sidewalk and in the street outside of Viersen’s office, sometimes getting into heated arguments. (The pro-choice supporters could generally be distinguished by the fact that many of them brought signs.)
Viersen himself was there and engaged with individuals on both sides. Speaking to the Leader, he said he was there to deliver a message that human rights begin when human life begins, and medical science tells us that human life begins at conception.
“We are very much an oddity (here in Canada) in the fact that pre-born humans have no human rights,” Viersen said.
Eventually, the two groups mostly broke apart, with the pro-life group congregating in front of Viersen’s office and the pro-choice protestors marching up and down the length of 50th Street, holding up their signs and playing music.
A number of those opposing Viersen were from Barrhead, such as Robyn Kitz, who noted she thought it was good to have a gathering of pro-choice supporters.
“Barrhead’s very pro-life, so it’s nice to see the other side of it sometimes,” she said.
Another local resident who did not support Viersen’s comments was Roger Manuel, minister of the United Church. He said he does not want Canada to follow what occurred in the U.S., adding that one only needs to read about the situation in El Salvador where abortion is banned to understand why that right must be protected.
Manuel said that he was proud to see a number of people turn out to protest Viersen’s comments, adding, “This is the first time in a long time that Mr. Viersen has been challenged, I think. His views do not represent the majority in Canada.”
He added that because of the large number of churches in Barrhead, there’s an assumption there is only one way to be Christian, which is not true. He then pointed out the recent painting of a rainbow-coloured crosswalk in celebration of LGBTQ rights, which was done in celebration of Pride Month.
It is worth noting that the rally did draw a few out-of-towners from Edmonton and other communities. One such demonstrator was Trina Sloman of Gibbons, who noted she had looked into Viersen’s history of being pro-life.
Noting that her own MP, Dane Lloyd, is very pro-life as well, she said, “I thought I would take the chance to come out here and show my support.”
Among those supporting Viersen was Felicia Wierenga, who came out from Neerlandia. Wierenga said she believed in protecting life from conception to death, adding, “We are rapidly sliding down (to a point) where life is not as valued as it ought to be.”
Wierenga said she believed a woman needs to be supported when she is facing an unplanned pregnancy, adding that many young women are not given the full picture of what abortion will entail, including the possible after-effects of depression, anxiety and a possible link with breast cancer.
“I personally know girls who have been in that position, and they need all the options. They need love and support, rather than just the one view that abortion will solve all of their problems.” she said, noting that she fully supported Viersen on this issue.
Another pair of Viersen supporters were Joan Bos and Hetty Stel, who also noted they financially support the Barrhead Pregnancy Centre.
Bos and Stel said they were not there to argue with pro-choice supporters, though they stated the other side seemed unwilling to have a discussion.
Both said there were few situations that warranted a woman having an abortion and that there were programs in place to support young mothers.
Ultimately, Lianne said she was “amazed” by the turnout at the rally, particularly on the pro-choice side, admitting that she expected a high turnout by the pro-life side.
She said that she had engaged with some of the pro-life supporters, including Viersen, though she generally found they were throwing out a lot of “red herring” arguments and what-about-isms.
“I like that everyone is being respectful. I might not like the pro-life tactics of trying to separate people and trying to break people down … (But) no one’s threatening or calling names. I really, really respect that.”
Lianne said she didn’t set out with the intention of changing Viersen’s mind or that of any other pro-life supporter, but to demonstrate to Viersen that supporting legislation was not indicative of his constituency’s views.
"What he needs to see is the voice of the constituency that he represents,” she said, noting that if Viersen chose to ignore the wishes of the people he represents, that calls into question his integrity.
In any case, Lianne thanked all those who showed up and shared information on the rally, noting that the make-up of the crowd roughly corresponded to the two-thirds of Canadians that support abortion rights.
