By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Immigration remains a hot topic in Red Deer

Mar 25, 2019 | 11:35 AM

The topic of immigration was on the minds of attendees at a pair of events in Red Deer on Saturday afternoon.

The annual ‘CommUNITY The Power of One’ event took place at the Welikoklad Event Centre.

At the same time, at the corner of Ross Street and 49 Avenue, several people gathered for the latest yellow vest protest, a weekly occurrence since December.

Supporters of the yellow vest movement say their message when it comes to immigration has been largely lost in misinformation shared by mainstream media.

“Properly vetted legal immigration is good. I don’t believe the immigration policies over the last four years are the best,” said Rob Bennetts, an 18-year oilfield worker who is visiting Red Deer from Williams Lake, BC.

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“It’s unfair that people who have been standing in line for three or four years waiting to go through the proper channels are being pushed aside and (other) people are just coming across the border.”

Andrea Baker from Red Deer also believes people have been misled about the yellow vest movement.

“We want migration lowered to more of what (former Prime Minister Stephen) Harper had. We don’t want the UN to tell us what to do,” Baker said while wearing a ‘Make Canada Great Again’ hat during Saturday’s yellow vest protest. “When you come to Canada, we want you to keep your traditions and your culture, but we want you to adopt Canadian values. We’re about fighting for Canadians.”

Jan Underwood, program coordinator with Central Alberta Refugee Effort and spokesperson for the ‘CommUNITY The Power of One’ event, says the issues brought up by yellow vest protestors and others are ones that need to be talked about.

“We did open the invite to anyone with opposing views, especially with the anti-immigration and Islamophobia issues that are happening right now,” she explained. “Don’t believe everything you see on social media, ask questions of people that are living certain experiences, or try to get to know people, your neighbour, or people at work.”

Underwood added, “People that are talking about anti-immigration, for example, maybe they don’t realize how valuable some of those immigrants are, and what role they’re playing. If they can have a conversation, it might just shift the consciousness a little bit.”