New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian found himself in a bit of hot water on social media after attending a local rally in support of Black Lives Matter.
Following the June 12 rally in Moody Park, photos were circulated on social media showing Julian waving a “Black lives matter” sign. Another rally photo, however, showed him holding a “we all matter” sign – something that generated negative attention when shared on social media like Facebook and Reddit.
“No. Noooooooooooooooooo,” tweeted @TonyeAganaba.
When Julian arrived at Moody Park, he said he was given a sign that had been prepared by a young volunteer. He held it for a few moments before looking at it – quickly determining it wasn’t appropriate for him to carry and switching it for a Black Lives Matter sign.
“This is actually my first rally since the pandemic hit. So I was more thinking about that (social distancing) than I was thinking about ‘I have this thing in my hand; I should check it.’ My muscle memory kicked in and I did check it and got it changed immediately after that,” he later told the Record. “But that being said, it’s up to me being responsible for everything that is in my hand because I represent the public. I have a responsibility that what I am carrying in the public at all times is appropriate. It’s a valid criticism to say, when you are holding something, you should know what it is; if it is not appropriate, you should immediately change it, and in this case it took a couple of minutes before that happened.”
Julian said someone took a picture of him with the first sign and posted it on social media without explaining that he didn’t bring the sign, held it only briefly and participated in the rally with a Black Lives Matter sign. In a statement issued on Monday, Julian apologized for holding the sign and took responsibility for the incident.
“I think ‘we all matter’ is fairly reminiscent of what some white nationalists have put out,” he later told the Record. “What they have been saying is, when people say ‘Black lives matter,’ their response is, ‘well, all lives matter’ – it diminishes that (Black lives matter) phrase.”
Although the photo of Julian holding the We All Matter sign surprised some people, many said they wanted to know the context of the photo or gave the NDP politico the benefit of the doubt.
Julian said there was some social media traffic related to the controversial photo for a few hours, but it died down as the “real pictures of the rally” emerged and people saw him holding the Black Lives Matter sign.
In a statement, Julian said he’s committed to continuing to learn and to work with others to eliminate systemic and all forms of racism in our society, and to continue working with the community and in Parliament to help build a society where it’s always clear that Black and Indigenous lives matter.
“I think the rally is extremely important, particularly in light of what we have been seeing. I sometimes hear people say this is an American issue. I completely disagree,” he told the Record. “When we look at the situation in Canada, we have a lot of systemic racism to fight and to eliminate. Particularly in the last few days, when we talk about Black lives matter and Indigenous lives matter, the brutal beating of Chief Allan Adam in Alberta, the killings in New Brunswick of Chantel Moore and Rodney Levi, these are all signs that we have a long way to go in Canada too.”
