Vancouver Island Speaks
Past Events
Saltair
October 1st, 2023
Our first panel and Q&A discussing gender identity ideology, women's spaces, and parental rights was initially scheduled to be held in Nanaimo, BC, but the venue owners cancelled, fearing "business suicide" on account of harassment and libel from activists in the area.
We were very lucky to secure another venue last minute at the Saltair Community Center in Ladysmith, which also received a barrage of emails threatening, harassing and bullying them. Hall managers also discovered the front of the hall had been vandalized the night before our event. The venue filed a report with the RCMP, but thankfully did not to cancel us.
We even invited some activist protesters inside for a chat…
Parksville
October 4th, 2023
Due to the success of our first event, we programmed a follow up discussion at the Cowichan Community Centre shortly afterwards. However, on Monday, October 2nd, we received an email from them cancelling our booking. Undeterred, we moved our event to the Parksville Community Centre.
Speakers included Meghan Murphy, Bryony Dixon, and Serena Winterburn — plus amazing contributions from the local folks who joined us for this respectful conversation.
Click on the image to watch the entire panel + Q&A.
Victoria
May 30st, 2024
“Vancouver Island Speaks: Women’s spaces, parental rights, and protecting kids” was organized by just a few local women, and was supported by local donors and volunteers.
Those of us who are connection to the Vancouver Island community, who spend time with regular working class people and families, and of course who are engaged in the fight to protect the spaces and rights of women and girls know how desperately these conversations are needed and desired.
This event featured talks by April Hutchinson, Bryony Dixon, and Kellie-Lynn Pirie, and was moderated by April Kitzul. For footage of the full event and Q&A, follow this link and click here to see Rebel News coverage of the evening.
Artwork: Kristopher Maya
Duncan
June 8th, 2024
Our planned October 2023 event at the Cowichan Community Centre (CCC) was cancelled on account of intense pressure and bullying from local activists who claimed we would engage in “hate speech”.
We were told that the B.C. Human Rights Code determined the speech we had not yet spoken was essentially illegal in Canada. This was not true of course, and we pushed back, with the help of our wonderful legal team at The Democracy Fund.
On Friday, May 31, after months of exchanging letters back and forth, the CCC informed us they had decided to allow us to book for June 8, 2024. We were thrilled, and hustled to put something together. Click on the image to watch the entire event.
Victoria
September 14th, 2024
On Saturday, September 14, 2024, Vancouver Island Speaks held an event at the Royal Canadian Legion, Trafalgar/Pro Patria Branch 292 in Victoria, B.C. Panelists, in order of speaker, were: Meghan Murphy, Linda Blade, Mia Hughes, Magdalena Huston, and Bryony Dixon. The event was moderated by Stuart Parker.
After another successful event, the venue was subject to a barrage of harassment from activists (just as the owners of Ambrosia Banquet Hall had suffered when we initially announced them as our venue). The Legion manager was pressured from ‘higher ups’ to respond with an email to the activists, detailing their shame at having hosted 5 women speaking. This email was then copied and pasted onto a graphic with Legion style branding, and presented as an official statement by island activists like Nanaimo Ladysmith School District 68 trustee, Tom Rokeby, who also libelled us a ‘hate group’ hosting a ‘hate rally’.
Bryony called the branch manager, Lorrie, to seek clarification…
