Rally for More Love and Kindness to combat foul online comments in Lac La Biche

There will be a More Love & Kindness Rally in Lac La Biche on Sunday in response to racist comments online towards Indigenous people.

It’s an Indigenous & Black Lives Matter Rally that is focusing on cultural education and creating a positive, open-minded place for Indigenous people and allies to gather and support each other after witnessing the hateful social media comments from last month.

“It was really sad to be honest, I just couldn’t believe that I was really seeing those comments. So I decided that I was just going to do a rally and bring some cultural awareness about Indigenous people and talk about the history,” said Lisa Bourque, the organizer of the rally. 

“It’s to educate the community that we matter too. We are human beings we bleed red and we all need love and kindness to live in life, and rather than turning your head away let’s just help each other through it.”

The rally will be at the McArthur Park Gazebo and it will begin at 1:00pm with an open smudge and a prayer. There will be Indigenous guest speakers who will educate the public on the cultural practices and history of the Indigenous people.

“We will be talking about the history of Treaty 6 lands and we will open up with a smudge and a prayer just to bring some cultural awareness as to why we do it, how we do it, and we will have an elder there. We are going to have someone come in and teach the ancient way of the medicine wheel, which is all about inclusivity,” said Bourque.

“We want everyone to be there. We need more allies, we need more people who want to walk with us to learn with us to grow with us as we are on this earth together.”

There will also be a discussion on what Indigenous people need moving forward.

“We need more resources to get everything in a better place. We need a detox center for people and we need to go back and teach people the truth of where they have come from because they have lost sight,” said Bourque.

“There are tons of programs but the government isn’t consulting us. They shouldn’t be doing anything for us without us and for infinity they have. They’re helping but they are not actually talking to us. They’re not even providing us with the basic resources that we need to survive as human beings.”

Bourque is hoping this rally will help bring people together and make a difference in the lives of the people in Lac La Biche through education and acceptance.

“We all need each other to heal each other, and we are most welcoming to everybody. We want everyone to bring an open mind and a warm heart. You have to that’s the only way you will get through life,” said Bourque.