ELBOW - It was really just supposed to be a simple 'Stand in solidarity' moment for local residents.
However, with the white-hot political temperature in both Canada and the U.S. right now, a non-partisan event held in the lakeside village of Elbow on Saturday, March 15 shed light on the emotions that Canadians are feeling right now as the back-and-forth soap opera between a number of Canadian political leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump continues on a daily basis.
On that afternoon, with the sun shining but the temperature still providing some wintertime bite, close to two dozen Elbow and area residents clad in red and white showed up at the village's entrance sign, standing in solidarity and adopting the increasingly-popular 'Elbows Up!' stance.
The mantra that is spreading quickly online across the country is seen as a way for Canadians to stand up against the drama surrounding tariffs from the States and support homegrown efforts that spotlight what the land of the North offers everyone.
Organizer Joan Soggie, a local author from Elbow, put the event together as something that didn't belong to any political party, whether left, right or centre. Described as a call for solidarity and resistance against bullying tactics that are threatening Canada, she says that some people have taken the attitude that the 'Elbows Up!' message is a partisan one, but that wasn't her intention.
Soggie says she was delighted to see the turnout for the event, despite the weather conditions.
"I was grateful for the hardy souls who showed up in spite of a brutally cold wind!" she told this reporter. "I had hoped for a mild day and more participants, but instead I got miserable weather and film crews who had the news of our little event circling the globe. It far exceeded my expectations."
Indeed, word about the Elbow event spread quickly, with a CBC news crew on-site gathering input and taking photos, as well as a photographer for Reuters capturing the day.
With even MSN, South China News and US outlets picking up the story, it goes to show that the impact of a small town's efforts can be noticed by the media when it touches a nerve. Particularly, when that nerve is connected to what's going on in our world between us and our Southern neighbours right now.
