Yukoner to join women's march against Trump

Tina Woodland, a Whitehorse businesswoman, says she's never been one to join protests. But she feels compelled to be part of the "Women's March on Washington" later this week.

"I just feel that a lot of women and minorities are not respected by the Trump administration, or Mr. Trump himself, obviously. And I just felt very strongly that if there was any march or protest, I'd be very happy to join that," she said.

The march, planned for Saturday — the day after Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. President — is expected to draw tens of thousands of people. It's billed as a demonstration in support of human rights.

"Obviously, I'm not an American citizen, but to me it's really about human rights and I think at this time in the world, everybody should be linking arms and speaking up for people, no matter where they are in the world," Woodland said.

"They're our neighbours, so I'm willing to add my voice."

Woodland was in the U.S. on election day last November, and for a few days after. Things immediately felt different, she said.

"I just felt almost like people who had some of those less-tolerant views, that they felt they could be less nice. Or they didn't have to be what they call 'politically correct'.

"It just felt like there was a change to me. It didn't feel like a good change."

'Yukoners are pretty progressive'

Woodland is going to Washington with her daughter Talia, and they're bringing along something intended to show the support they have back in Yukon — a colourful scarf, emblazoned with the slogan "Yukon Marching in Solidarity."

It was designed by Linda Leon, who's also been trying to cover it with Yukoners' signatures.

"It would show everybody who's marching in Washington how far the support for their march is," Leon said.

"It would be fantastic if it was just completely covered in signatures. That would be wonderful. Because Yukoners are pretty progressive, and they care about human rights."