By CanadaMarches.ca

James Topp, the 28-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force Infantry, completed Phase 1 of his march on June 30, 2022, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa. He began his peaceful demonstration in the form of an organized crosscountry march in Vancouver, BC on Feb. 20, due to the government’s overreaching mandates in place at that time.

On that day, James and the Canada Marches team began the final leg of the march at 10am in Nepean at Bell’s Corner, with rest stops at Hog’s Back Park and a parking lot located along the way where an estimated 1300+ supporters met and marched with him and the team.

Arrival at The Tomb was set for 6pm EST, at which time, James completed what he had initially set out to accomplish, which was placing his hand upon the Tomb. The event organization and implementation was assisted from start to finish by members of Veterans4Freedom (V4F), a partnering organization with Canada Marches, of which James is also a member.

As James stepped towards the Tomb, after setting his rucksack down and removing a ceremonial Canadian Flag (presented to him on his retirement from the Regular Force along with a Thank you note for his many years of service, from the Prime Minister) from his pack, which he laid at the base of the Tomb. The crowd that had gathered to witness the completion of the march, along with numerous independent journalists and livestreamers, was hushed in reverence of the magnitude of the moment he laid his hand upon the Tomb. (A replay of the livestream from the entire day’s events has been made available to watch on the “James Topp: Youtube channel.) James addressed the crowd of supporters afterwards, and thanked both his team and the supporters.

The decision to continue marching from East to West was determined by James and the team because most mandates have merely been suspended, not repealed. James and the team were successful in securing a meeting with several Members of Parliament on June 22nd in the Parliamentary Precinct, where James laid out a clear and concise plan forward. The plan itself consists of 3R’s = Repair (Repeal, Reinstate and Restitution leads to Repair). This meeting was thought to be the first of its kind that a citizen has secured with success in gathering a number of MP’s to hear the concerns from the public, and its due in part to the letter writing campaign that Canada Marches supporters took part in with James having started the process by writing invitation letters to all 338 MP’s and sitting Senators.

Phase 2 of the March began from Signal Hill in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on July 18, with the end point set for Southern Ontario (either GTA or Windsor, Ont). The peaceful demonstration of marching that James and the Canada Marches team have again embarked upon, exists for the following reasons:

1. Protesting federal government mandates:

• • that require, as a condition for employment or continued employment, vaccination, testing, quarantine, and/or isolation;
  • that require proof of vaccination or taking part in an attestation process; and
  • that arbitrarily place employees or members on leave without pay or termination of employees should they disagree with the policy.

1. James has stepped forward to speak on behalf of:

• • Personnel employed by the federal government who have been denied access to employment and services, who have lost income and suffered from damaged relationships due to the imposition of a medical procedure.
  • Members of the CAF that are still suffering from the effects of the CDS directive regarding vaccination and whose objections to the policy resulted in the destruction of their careers.
  • Those individuals who have been pressured into taking part in medical procedures that they would not otherwise have accepted.

James and the Canada Marches team are now back in full swing marching (on a 5 day rotating schedule of marching for 5 days, followed by a rest/admin day), updating supporters via videos, and writing a letter to the DND Ombudsman.

For more information on #CanadaMarches please visit www.CanadaMarches.ca and sign up for the Newsletter to receive weekly updates. Alternatively, you can find and follow his mission on any one of the multiple social media platforms including but not limited to: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Youtube.

Next month, we will highlight the Canadian Citizens Coalition (C3) introduction and give more information about the newly formed organization.