Chants of “Trudeau must go” echoed through the streets of downtown Red Deer on Saturday.
More than 100 central Albertans gathered in front of City Hall wearing yellow vests to take part in a protest against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the signing of the UN migration pact and the implementation of a carbon tax.
The event was one of many yellow vest protests across Canada.
Sheri-Ann Davidson drove from Clive to take part in the demonstration.
“We’re protesting Justin Trudeau signing the UN migration pact without a referendum – nobody in Canada knew he was going to do that.
“Some people are for migration, but this mass migration is over the top,” she said. “Nobody voted for it and we didn’t know it was going to happen.”
Davidson said Trudeau “doesn’t support our economy. If anything, he just crushed it.”
Chris Reid, of Rimbey, said Saturday’s protest was important.
“We’re tying to be vocal and look out for ourselves because our government is selling us out,” he said. “Immigration is important, but it has to be done properly. We have to protect our borders.”
Reid said it was “awesome” to see so many at the protest.
“But we need more out here. There should be 20,000 people here,” he said.
The Global Compact for Migration is the first UN agreement on international migration. It is billed as a co-operative framework – it is not a UN treaty and is not legally binding.
READ MORE: Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen defends Canada signing onto UN migration pact
Consensus on the final version of the compact was reached this summer in New York.
Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen defended signing the pact, saying it’s an important agreement that will set out an official international framework for countries to work together on the causes and impacts of migration.
–With files from The Canadian Press
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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