A day of sombre reflection and gratitude for Canada's war veterans was marred by individuals spreading anti-vaccination messages in at least three B.C. cities on Thursday.
That includes Kamloops, where lawyer Jay Michi brought his two young daughters to the Riverside Park Cenotaph for what he expected would be a typical Remembrance Day ceremony.
But Michi told CTV News the park looked different than previous years: There was no Honour Guard, and the bagpipes seemed to blare from pre-recorded audio. A young man then got up to recite In Flanders Fields, before reading a poem of his own.
"The poem was about remembering our forefathers who fought for our freedoms. He put an emphasis on 'freedom,'" said Michi, who is a partner at Jensen Law. "And I'm like oh my god, here we go."
The speaker started condemning vaccine mandates and government propaganda being "forced down our throats," according to Michi, who said some in the crowd immediately began jeering.
A middle-aged man who identified himself as a veteran interrupted the poem, but Michi said even he appeared to have some kind of agenda, and was "dropping F-bombs" into the microphone ...