A B.C. participant in the Ottawa convoy protest organized a pot luck barbecue and some parking lot hockey games for kids in a Langley recreation centre parking lot on Saturday, Feb. 26.

John Bancroft, an excavator operator who lives in Langley乌鸦传媒檚 Brookswood neighbourhood, said he would like the event to lead to other, similar in-person meet-ups, to start a process of reconciliation and help heal divisions in the country.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 bringing the community together,乌鸦传媒� Bancroft told the Langley Advance Times.

乌鸦传媒淛ust getting everyone shaking hands again and talking. Once we get that going, it will all fix itself.乌鸦传媒�

The George Preston get-together was not, he stressed, about the anti-vaccine-mandate protest that he took part in.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 completely separate [from that],乌鸦传媒� said Bancroft.

乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 my personal thing.乌鸦传媒�

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Bancroft said he left Ottawa before the police moved in and began making widespread arrests.

乌鸦传媒淚 had a gut feeling,乌鸦传媒� he recalled.

His memories of the Ottawa event were positive.

乌鸦传媒淢y experience was nothing but community coming together,乌鸦传媒� Bancroft remarked, adding he did not personally witness any of the reported incidents of bad behavior while he was in Ottawa.

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Another convoy participant, , drove in to bring the 乌鸦传媒淯nity Cup,乌鸦传媒� an improvised replica of the Stanley Cup created by convoy participants, to the event.

Fortin explained the cup was created from a 乌鸦传媒済arbage can and a mop bucket乌鸦传媒� after he and fellow convoy participant Ron Rotzetter decided to put an an empty stretch of street to use.

乌鸦传媒淚 said, let乌鸦传媒檚 start some hockey, here,乌鸦传媒� Fortin recalled.

乌鸦传媒淔or about two and half, three weeks, we went down every day with it and played hockey and got people to sign it,乌鸦传媒� Fortin related.

The cup was completely covered with names.

乌鸦传媒淚 don乌鸦传媒檛 know how many signatures are on there, but there乌鸦传媒檚 a few,乌鸦传媒� Fortin said.

乌鸦传媒淎 small fringe minority, let乌鸦传媒檚 go with that.乌鸦传媒�

Like Bancroft, Fortin left Ottawa before police began making wholesale arrests.

乌鸦传媒淚 wanted to leave with that experience of the unity. That乌鸦传媒檚 what I saw, the whole time I was there, the unity.乌鸦传媒�

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The event was held without permission from Langley Township, but Mayor Jack Froese noted that while the municipality generally doesn乌鸦传媒檛 rent out parking lots, they also don乌鸦传媒檛 prevent people from meeting up in an empty lot, as long as there are no violations of laws or regulations, such as liquor laws.

乌鸦传媒淧eople use our parking lots for meetings all the time,乌鸦传媒� Froese said.

- with files from Matthew Claxton