A thoughtful crowd gathered at Charles Hoey Park to celebrate the reintroduction of an International Women's Day Festival in Duncan.
Following a welcome from Coun. Deb Toporowski on behalf of Chief William Seymour of Cowichan Tribes, and Nanaimo-Cowichan MP Alistair MacGregor, participants moved closer to the stage to hear speeches and songs from a variety of people on the need for a safer, more equitable place for women in Canada, and everywhere else.
Such subjects as universal daycare, sexual self-determination, and the need to address the cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women were only a few of the topics spoken about.
For example, Duncan Coun. Michelle Staples spoke movingly of her own challenges on arriving in the Valley 25 years ago as an unknown, and then later as a single mother, urging others to take heart from the example of her story. She then climbed down into the crowd and gathered them all into a circle of caring.
Agencies such as Cowichan Women Against Violence and the USW's Women of Steel group had tables and representatives ready to share information with the public.