Ottawa women head to Washington for anti-Trump march
About 50 women from eastern Ontario travelled to the United States by charter bus Friday night to join the Women's March in Washington, D.C.
The rally was organized by women who opposed U.S. President Donald Trump's policies and words during the campaign.
"When you insult women, it's not an insult to one woman, it's an insult to all women around the world," said Rehan Hashmi, who organized the Ottawa charter bus trip to Washington.
Hashmi helped take a roll call of women boarding the bus at Ottawa's Greyhound station on Friday night.
"Now we are going 50 people from Ottawa and Kingston," she said. "Then we're joined by five buses from Toronto and many are flying from other cities [like] Vancouver, Edmonton. So there will be altogether 1,000 women from Canada."
Hashmi said the response to the bus trip was "overwhelming" and there were last minute requests to join — including one from a 10-year-old boy who wanted to accompany his mother — that couldn't be accommodated.
Gathering of 'pussyhats'
Karin Frederking was one of the first to arrive at the Greyhound station to board the bus. She was bringing a stash of pink knitted "pussyhats" — a reference to an infamous video of Trump that was released during last year's election.
"I'm not the talented one, though. My mother made me a couple hats, and she's made four more that will be present at the Ottawa march tomorrow," she said, referring to a "sister march" planned in Ottawa Saturday.
The hats are supposed to represent women who could not attend the U.S. march.
Frederking is a dual Canadian-American citizen who is in a same-sex relationship. She said showing solidarity with the people who feel marginalized by Trump's comments is personal for her.
"I'm in the LGBT community," she said. "I have children, I have a daughter. I have friends and relatives that live in the States. There are a whole lot of mixed things going on that mean this is important for me."
Worries about border trouble
Nineteen-year-old Hannah Vervoort only planned to sign up for the bus ride a week ago. She made a sign that read "I am not free while any woman is unfree," and said the message resonated with her.
"While I feel comfortable in where I live, there are a lot of women who aren't. So I want to stick up for them," she said.
Vervoort and two other women destroyed their signs before they boarded the charter bus, after they'd heard of other people heading to the Washington march being detained at the border.
Vervoort said it's important for Canadian women to speak up for what they believe in, because the issues of freedom and equality are not limited to any one country.
"Even as a Canadian going down is important, because it's not just Trump for example, it's not just an American thing," she said.
"It's here in Canada, it's worldwide. And so no matter where you are, I think it's important to stand up for what you believe in. I've seen that people from Europe are flying in for this march. It's global."
Vervoort said Saturday morning that the group successfully crossed the border.
