The Kelowna Peace Group took to the downtown core on Mar. 6 calling for not only peace in Ukraine, but worldwide.
A group of rally-goers met at the Spirit of Sail statue, looking to have their voices heard on subjects ranging from the Ukraine-Russia escalation, to nuclear weapons supplies, to NATO.
Group member Mark Haley spoke to Cap News about their cause, on a nationwide day of action alongside other organizations such as Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, World Beyond War and the Canadian Peace Congress.
“The Ukraine movement, and the (movement against Putin), we thought it needed a little deeper of an analysis than that,” said Haley. “The NATO military alliance has been rampaging through not only Europe, but also threatening in Libya, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. So if you want to take the Russian products off of the shelf because Putin invades Ukraine, why don’t you take the Budweiser beer off the shelf as well, because the USA has been invading countries left and right for decades? International law means nothing to the powerful, but the weak are supposed to obey international law. So we want to bring a little context to it, a little history.”
Signs seen at the rally included “Canada out of NATO”, “Socialism or Barbarism”, and “Stand with Ukraine”.
Haley said he has learned a lot himself over the past few weeks during the Ukraine crisis, though he wanted to raise awareness to the larger, worldwide problem of war.
“Just by blaming one person, and putting it all on Putin, you’re not going to get to the root of the problem. You’re just going to have more wars in the future.”
READ MORE: Driver of vehicle allegedly fleeing Glenmore crash scene may have had gun
READ MORE: Slain UBCO security guard’s family mourns loss of ‘bubbly, positive’ person
@JakeC_16
Jake.courtepatte@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our daily and subscribe to our daily newsletter.