Peaceful rally and protest over Nanaimo’s tent city divides community
NANAIMO — Though the Soldiers of Odin didn’t force action against downtown Nanaimo’s tent city like they claimed they would, the end result of dividing the community was still achieved.
Several hundred people packed the short stretch of Port Dr. between Discontent City and Port Place Shopping Centre for several hours on Sunday afternoon. Roughly 60 per cent of the crowd stood along the sidewalks near Port Place, standing in opposition to the substantial homeless camp.
The protest and counter-rally was first organized after the Soldiers of Oden group, who sparked the first tent city rally, said they were going to forcibly remove the camp Sunday afternoon. They never arrived and posted a video on Facebook saying they “trolled” tent city organizers and never intended to show up.
Even without their presence, it was a tense few hours downtown.