Thursday January 29, 2026 | VANCOUVER, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
BC Green Party Leader Emily Lowan and members of the BC Greens will join two protests in Vancouver tomorrow, Friday January 31.
The protests are opposing Canadian corporate partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lowan will speak at both actions that have been organized by local grassroots groups that share a unified message that ‘Canadian companies have no business working with ICE’.
Protest details:
On Friday January 31 in Vancouver:
- 3–5 pm: Hootsuite Headquarters, 111 East 5th Ave
With Democracy Rising Now
- 5–7 pm: Pattison Headquarters, 1067 West Cordova
With Indivisible Vancouver
Technology & property transaction:
The BC Greens are calling on Canadian companies to immediately sever ties with ICE-linked contractors and for elected leaders to speak out against corporate complicity in state violence.
The protests tomorrow target two companies:
- Hootsuite for their business ties to Palantir, a company whose technology is used by ICE to carry out surveillance, detention, and deportation; and
- The Jim Pattison Group whose property arm is in the process of selling a Virginia warehouse that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security intends to use as an ICE holding and processing facility—a deal that has drawn criticism from activists and community groups.
Enabling harms:
“This is about drawing a clear line,” said Emily Lowan, Leader of the BC Greens.
“ICE is tearing families apart, detaining people illegally, and inflicting deadly harm. No Canadian company should be enabling that violence. If you profit from ICE, you are complicit,” says Lowan.
“He could stop the sale, give his workers a raise, and end the boycott today—the question is one of will,” said Lowan about Pattison.
Did Pattison know?
Jim Pattison Developments said earlier this week that it publicly listed the site for lease or sale and accepted an offer from “a U.S. government contractor” to buy the property.
“Some time later, we became aware of the ultimate owner and intended use of the building,” said the Pattison company in a statement on January 28.
The BC-based company said the sale of the building in Virginia remains subject to approvals and closing conditions and it intends on “complying with all applicable laws” – a statement that essentially sidesteps any political leaning as to what the building might be used for if it is sold.
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NEWS SECTIONS: BC GREENS | CANADA-USA