Three Cowichan Valley residents are demanding answers after being threatened with arrest and escorted out of a packed Jan. 10 town hall featuring federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre and Jeff Kibble, the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford member of parliament.
Krisit Koons, Erin Blondeau and Jessica Barker said they were removed from the public event at Mellor Hall because of the messages on their T-shirts. Despite responding to RSVP to the “Town Hall for a Safe and Affordable B.C.,” the trio was told by an unidentified individual — who appeared to be associated with event organizers — and RCMP officers that they had to leave or face trespassing charges.
“This is the first time Kibble has hosted — what I thought was — a public event since he’s been elected, and he’s been very absent in the Cowichan Valley and not very responsive. So it was important to me to go and figure out what’s going on,” Koons said.
Shortly after arriving at the event, Koons and Blondeau were approached by two unidentified individuals who took issue with their attire.
Koons’ shirt read: “Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It’s not a pie.” Blondeau’s featured the slogan, “From Salish Seas to Palestine Occupation is a Crime.” Barker, though not wearing a T-shirt that was flagged by event staff, was attending with Koons and Blondeau.
While one individual associated with the event initially said the three could stay if they moved to the back of the room and weren’t disruptive, police intervened shortly after, saying they were asked by organizers to tell Koons, Blondeau and Barker to leave. The three women were then escorted off the Cowichan Exhibition grounds.
In the following days, Koons made a Facebook post sharing what happened at the event with a photo of the shirt she was wearing. The post has been reshared more than 1,000 times.
Kibble responded to Koons in a Facebook comment, claiming he was unaware of the decision to remove her and had no input on the decision. He has since offered to meet the women to hear their concerns and answer any questions they may have had. Koons, Blondeau and Barker have agreed to meet him.
“Please feel free to wear your T-shirt of choice and contrary to many comments, as MP I have always and will continue to listen to all voices and opinions — including yours,” Kibble said.
According to a statement from Kibble’s team, the event was open to the public and did not require a membership to the Conservative Party of Canada to attend, the only requirement was that attendees RSVP online, which Koons, Blondeau and Barker did.
“I went because I wanted to observe and there have not been opportunities to meet and talk with Jeff Kibble, especially during the election,” Blondeau said.
In a statement to The Discourse, RCMP said they didn’t have a specific reason for why they were removed, pointing to the Conservative Party for more information.
“From our understanding, the woman was one of a few people who were asked to leave by private security,” RCMP media relations officer Kris Clark said in a statement.
The Discourse has reached out to the Conservative Party of Canada and Poilievre for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
In an interview with The Discourse, Blondeau questioned whose rights are upheld at events like this.
“Is it the attendees or is it the event organizer? Do we as attendees have rights and if we do, why weren’t our rights protected?”
“It’s not just about us and it’s not about what our political leanings are,” Koons said. “Everyone should be concerned that they are trampling on the democratic process and that we were profiled and asked to leave for no reason.”
Attendees say they were immediately identified as disruptive
After passing through security at the venue entrance, Koons and Blondeau were approached by two unidentified people who told them they had to leave. They appeared to be staff associated with the Conservative Party and the event.
In a video of the incident reviewed by The Discourse, one of the individuals claimed their shirts represented groups that “usually come to our events and disrupt our programs.” When asked to clarify which group the person was referring to, they specifically citied the “pro-Palestinian group.”
In the video, the person is seen telling the trio they can stay if they stand in the back of the venue and aren’t disruptive.
In another video, the second unidentified individual is seen saying, “You guys have to leave. I’m sorry.” They also said, “It’s a private event guys, that’s how it works, unfortunately.” In that same video, the first person that spoke with them tells the three attendees they can follow him and stand in the back.
“If you guys stand here and you just listen and don’t disrupt the program you’re more than welcome to attend the event,” he says to them in a third video. “If you guys decide to interrupt the program and disrupt everyone else’s experience here today, we will immediately ask you guys to leave and there won’t be another warning. Understood?”
“Yeah,” one of the three attendees is heard saying in the video.
However, shortly after Koons, Blondeau and Barker were told they could stay, four RCMP officers approached them.
The trio said in an interview with The Discourse that they were confused by the police intervention, given they had complied with the organizers’ request to stand at the back of the venue and had not been disruptive.
“They just asked me to tell you to leave,” one of the officers says in a fourth video provided to The Discourse.
“But we haven’t done anything,” Blondeau replied to the officer.
“And we registered, and it’s a town hall,” Koons also replied.
“But they control access to who comes here and who leaves and with the Trespass Act, you do need to leave when you’re asked to leave the property,” the officer said in the video.
Koons is heard asking if discrimination laws apply to the situation and another officer is heard telling the trio that’s something they can take up in civil court.
In the video, one of the officers also disclosed that they were not given a specific reason for why Koons, Blondeau and Barker were asked to leave by organisers, but that they had to leave or be arrested for trespassing.
All four videos — from the initial confrontation about their shirts, to being told they could stay in the back, to the conversation with RCMP officers — take place within the span of eight minutes, from 2:19 p.m. to 2:27 p.m. according to the video metadata.
Blondeau said she knew of community members who did not feel comfortable attending the town hall for reasons related to their ethnicity, politics and gender identity. She wore the shirt, calling attention to what has been happening in Palestine, as a show of solidarity.
“It felt like the right thing to do to represent community members who felt as though they weren’t safe to attend,” Blondeau said.
In a statement to The Discourse, a representative from Kibble’s team said the event was open to the public, but attendees needed to RSVP online first through the Conservative Party website. They also said it took place on private property that had been rented.
Koons, Barker and Blondeau each had proof that they filled out the online form to RSVP to the event. The form required a name, phone number, email address and postal code but gave no direction on what attendees could or could not wear and did not require that any agreement be signed.
“Decisions for who can and cannot attend private functions like this are made by event organizers, not the RCMP,” Clark said. “RCMP involvement was limited to explaining their jeopardy or the implications should they refuse to leave.”
The Discourse reached out to the Conservative Party of Canada to ask if it was standard policy to deny people entry to public events based on slogans or messages on their attire.
They didn’t respond in time for publication but similar incidents have happened at Conservative Party events elsewhere in Canada.
Barker said she was surprised by the treatment by rally organizers and the police, noting she had attended hoping to meet other community members who held different views.
“I honestly just wanted to open a dialogue because our community is very fractured right now,” she said.
Editor’s note, Jan. 15, 2026: In order to gain clarity on if this was a taxpayer-funded event, The Discourse has asked Kibble’s team if parliamentary or party funds were used for it, but did not hear back by publication time. This story will be updated with a response if provided.
