‘Nobody’s addressing it’: Oliver students targeted by convoy protesters question school’s response

Two students who filmed a convoy protester screaming abuse at their friend outside of South Okanagan Secondary last week say they are disappointed and frustrated with the school’s response to a situation that left the teens feeling unsafe. They say they have been discouraged from discussing what happened.

The RCMP have confirmed they are investigating, having gotten involved after the footage of the incident began circulating online. It shows an unmasked woman in a small crowd shouting racist remarks and other slurs at a young woman of colour. Students can also be heard shouting back.

RELATED: ‘Arguing with children’: Convoy protesters target Okanagan high schools

The Grade 11 and Grade 12 students who posted the footage say they are continuing to speak up about what happened, hopeful that it will lead to consequences for the woman involved.

“They were yelling at us for wearing masks. They were calling us sheep, stupid. And from there it just kept escalating. Fast forward and there’s like 50 kids behind us and we’re all fighting with them. Because these are grown adults and they’re saying awful stuff to us,” one student said.

“For a grown adult to look at a 17-year-old and say like, you’re a [slur] go back to your country, you’re stupid. All those things — it’s just unacceptable. So, of course, it was really hard to stay calm and of course, we were all screaming. It enraged us.”

The students, who CityNews is not naming, first became aware that adults in cars and trucks were gathering outside of the Oliver high school shortly before class was dismissed for the weekend Friday.

“Originally we just thought they were  parents coming to pick up their kids who just happened to have Canada flags. But then there were more of them,” the other student said, estimating between 30 and 40 adults showed up.

Once they realized what was happening, they said they were worried about younger students at the school because the so-called ‘freedom convoy’ protesters had gathered in an area where parents park to pick up their kids. There is also an elementary school next door.

“My first idea was, ‘We need to go make sure nothing wrong is happening because that’s where little kids get picked up.’ It was kind of like our first instinct to be like, ‘What’s going on?'” one student explained.

“Right off the bat when we showed that we weren’t for them, it got really hostile. There were a lot of words exchanged.”

But they say one woman was more aggressive than the others.

“This lady walked over and right off the bat, she was super aggressive. She was up in our faces. Yelling at us, pointing her finger at us. In the video, we’re all screaming at that lady because it’s like, ‘How dare you say that?’ Especially as a grown adult.”

The RCMP have confirmed a constable was sent to the school prior to the events captured on video, and that no one called the police during the altercation.

“They were told to stay off school grounds, and they did and things appeared calm,” said a spokesperson in a statement.

“The incident … must have happened after the Constable attended and left and it was not reported to us that day. The Oliver RCMP received no calls from the school administration, teachers, or students and we only became aware of this incident the following day.”

On Wednesday, the RCMP confirmed the person in the video has been identified and a $2,300 fine will be issued.

Students say discussion discouraged, impact minimized

After the woman from the video left voluntarily, the students say a lot of the crowd dispersed.

“As soon as that lady left everyone else kind of left. But we were all standing there huddled, there were people that were crying. We were all freaking out essentially because we were just shocked,” one student told CityNews.

“It was just a really uncomfortable, unsafe position that all of us were in and it was like, ‘How did this happen?'”

A teacher did come out after and spoke to the students who remained.

“She essentially was just like, ‘If you had left them alone, they would have left you alone,” one student said.

“For everyone who was deeply affected by it, it was very dismissive of how traumatic it was, especially for the students that were targeted.”

However, both students say it was important for them to stick up for their friend, and that they felt they had a responsibility to do something afterward because they weren’t the ones being subjected to racist insults.

“We could have left that situation alone. But if we let one of our friends be attacked by a racist woman with all these remarks and walked away — we would be part of the problem,” one student said.

“I think that just leaving it alone would have definitely perpetuated the problem,’ said the other.

In the aftermath, the students say they have been discouraged from discussing the incident, with teachers warning it might be too upsetting.

“I feel like we might get trouble for saying this, but I do not think the school is handling it the way they should, especially since there were quite a few people that were harmed by this. I think our school needs to have that uncomfortable conversation of like, what happened: How can we do better? How can we educate? What what do you do in a situation like this if it happens again? We could have had any of those conversations, but there was none.”

“Nobody’s addressing it,” the other student said.

They both feel the school is reluctant to start a conversation because the issues of masks, vaccines, and mandates are so fraught. Further, they say they say some students were supportive of the protesters.

“I don’t think they want to make the school feel like an unsafe place for those students. But by doing that they’re making the school feel like an unsafe place for most other people.”

For her part, the superintendent of schools in the Okanagan-Similkameen says staff have been “checking in” with the students involved in the aftermath of the incident.

“School administration was effective in assisting the situation, supporting students and moving students and buses along to bring the incident to closure during the busy time of dismissal. It is so unfortunate that one individual chose to engage students in this manner. It was unnecessary,” Beverly Young said in a statement to CityNews.

Young says she has met with the RCMP and also debriefed with the school administrative team.

CityNews has reached out to the school principal and has not yet received a response.

Mayor and council ‘appalled’ by incident at high school 

Oliver’s Mayor and City Council issued a statement Tuesday, saying they were ‘appalled” by the actions of the protesters.

“Students from SOSS were subjected to anger and hostility from protesters who gathered near and on school property. Schools are a place of learning and a place where students can feel safe and not be subjected to hateful, racist and aggressive comments,” it reads.

“Demanding change to mandates or orders by demonstrating at a high school, with an elementary school adjacent, served no purpose or benefit.”

"Schools are a place of learning and a place where students can feel safe and not be subjected to hateful, racist and aggressive comments." Oliver's mayor and council have issued a statement saying they are "appalled" by the actions of convoy protesters who targeted a school. pic.twitter.com/CRDZ9QE4qP

— Lisa Steacy (@lisa_steacy) February 16, 2022

The statement points out that B.C. enacted “bubble zone” legislation last year that established a 20-metre no-protest perimeter around schools, health-care facilities, and COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites. The legislation came after protests against COVID-19 restrictions targeted both hospitals and schools.

“The act will give police the power to arrest or issue tickets to anyone impeding access to a facility, disrupting services, or intimidating or attempting to intimidate an individual within access zones. In addition, courts will be able to issue an injunction to prevent people from contravening the act,” the province said at the time.

Related stories: 

‘Shameful’: Anti-vaccine protesters enter Salmon Arm schools, triggering ‘hold and secure’

‘Refrain from wearing scrubs’: Vancouver healthcare workers warned ahead of convoy protest

‘They should be ashamed of themselves’: Protesters target B.C. hospitals disrupting patients, staff

Mounties say they will continue to liaise with the school administration, Oliver’s Mayor and Council, and leaders of the Indo-Canadian and First Nations Community to ensure safety.

“If criminal charges are warranted then that avenue will be pursued. The safety of children at school is very important and a place of learning appears to have been violated,” the statement from RCMP says.

Friday’s altercation came just ahead of the third weekend of disruptive protests and border blockades in cities across Canada. On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the country’s Emergencies Act in response.