Photo credit: Mel Rothenburger

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: The power of protest – can Enough is Enough accomplish anything?

Apr 29, 2023 | 6:37 AM

—THE PROBLEM WITH PROTESTS is they often don’t know what they’re about and are unsure of where they’re going.

Take the “Enough is Enough” rally at the Overlanders plaza in front of City Hall on Thursday. It was a nice day, nice enough for about 75 people to take a break from work or from retired life during a lunch hour to come see what was happening. Its stated purpose was to draw attention to dissatisfaction over public safety issues.

While there was a lot of discussion about that, the issues of addictions, homelessness and mental health also came up. They’re related, of course, but the focus of the thing was muddied by the fact Glenn Hilke of The Loop stepped up to lead the rally.

Hilke, as a service provider for the homeless, was challenged at one point as being out of context with the general direction of the protest. Maybe that wasn’t fair or relevant, because Hilke made a point of encouraging others to speak, but it highlighted the confusion over the reason for the gathering. (Was it about advocating for the homeless, or about cracking down on crime and giving the streets back to “the rest of us”?)

And, while there was much talk of the need to stand united and not to finger point, anger showed through. Politicians, naturally, and judges, came in for the brunt of the frustration but there were times the finger pointing momentarily turned inward.

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And where was it all heading? What actions were supposed to come out of it? Other than talk of storming a City council meeting and holding more rallies, it wasn’t at all clear what this rally hoped to accomplish other than giving local media — who turned out in force — a story in the 24-hour news cycle.

Bronwen Scott, not a stranger to activism in Kamloops, rescued it by taking the megaphone as the rally was about to break up and asking the crowd if they supported the idea of a town hall meeting to discuss things further.

Assent given, she and others are already busy planning panel participants, a format and all the other details that have to go into such an event.

Those who make a living studying human behaviour and crunching the algorithms or whatever it is they do say public protests can be highly effective at creating change if they’re done right.

Extreme protests involving violence, looting or damage to public property get a lot of attention but they fail at gaining widespread public support.

There’s plenty of material on this but Psychology Today says, “The main reason for this is that people simply couldn’t identify with more radical protesters or see them as people like themselves.”

Peaceful protests have stopped wars and ended repressive regimes. The emphasis of this latest movement on regular folks calmly though loudly making a point is a strength.

Enough is Enough (the slogan is borrowed from other protests on other issues over the years) rallies were held in several other B.C. communities on the same day, and reports indicate they expressed similar concerns about crime and public safety.

As in Kamloops, residents in Penticton, Nanaimo, Prince George and a couple of other places — and on the lawns of the Legislature in Victoria — said they have become afraid in their own towns.

Turnouts weren’t necessarily large but, as one news story said, they made their voices heard. Whether or not politicians attended (most Kamloops City councillors were out of town at a conference) they were paying attention. The rowdiest discussion on the topic may have been in the B.C. Legislature that same day.

Politicians yield to pressure. Whether it be at the municipal, provincial or federal level, they offer assurances that public safety is a priority.

But, being human beings, they’re happy to let it slide if they aren’t being pushed; they move on to other pressing issues. In order to respond to pressure, though, they have to be told very clearly what’s wanted of them.

As Psychology Today says, a protest needs “constructive intentions” to be successful. So storming a City council meeting will be a useless gesture if the protesters can’t clearly articulate what it is they want other than to “do something.” The objective of any protest is to effect change, and the change has to be tightly defined. It’s not enough just to vent.

That’s why Scott’s intervention at Thursday’s rally was brilliant. It saved the event from being just another complaints session. Her suggestion of putting together a town hall as the next step (a Facebook page will also be set up) gave the rally purpose and even a sense of momentum.

A town hall can serve to more clearly define a strategy for what to tell the politicians and, along with other Enough is Enough events in the province, to urge them not to tarry in their assignment.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.