For at least some people participating in the Squamish rally for Indian farmers Monday afternoon, there's a personal connection.
Before she arrived in Canada, Chetandeep Kaur grew up in rural areas around Ludhiana, a city in the Indian state of Punjab, where she practised farming with her family.
But Kaur said that this way of life is now under a very real threat, as the government of India has passed legislation that would cripple farmers' rights.
"It's like [a] step-by-step approaching, privatizing their main opposition, which is agricultural, taking over their power, then limiting their source of income. Then what's next?" said Kaur, who has been in Squamish for two years.
"It's painful. Like every time we go visit our family, our farm, our village, things are different. And, personally, I would say whenever I go visit my family, I want things to be the same the way they were. But they're not."
On Dec, 14, she and her husband were among the dozens of people who were gathered outside the local Sikh temple. Residents were showing solidarity with the mass protests that have mobilized millions of people throughout India and around the world.
In Squamish, protest chants rang over the speakers and groups were holding signs. After gathering at the parking lot, the demonstrators jumped into their cars and drove quietly single-file in a procession of vehicles that were adorned with placards and flags.
The convoy made its way through much of town and then back to the temple.
Tejinder Gulati, the protest organizer, said the Indian government imposed the legislation without consultation with farmers.
He called the government's move dictatorial.
"We want to show that we are with [the farmers]," said Gulati. "That all over Punjab, and all Indian farmers that we support you. That the government maybe one day listens and then changes this law in favour of the farmers."
Activists say the legislation, passed by Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, will strip farmers of their right to a minimum wage and of their ability to sell their products at a minimum price.
Demonstrators say this will give bigger multinational corporations an edge but leave domestic farmers no choice but to starve, as they say the legislation even removes farmers' rights to ask the courts to intervene in disputes.
It's a move that would have a major impact in a country where a large percentage of the population depends on agriculture for its livelihood.
The UN says that 70% of rural India depends on farming as their main source of income. Of those farmers, 80% are considered small or marginal.
Kaur's husband, Parneet Singhgrewal, painted a picture of what life would be like for Indian farmers under the new rules.
"[It's] like if government introduces a rule that there is no minimum wage, corporations can let you work on even $2 and you can't even go to court or file a single complaint...and it's all controlled by them," said Singhgrewal.
"So you produce anything... there is no guarantee that you will get the price or like the even the minimum price...so they are putting the whole future in the brink."
Protests erupted throughout India in response, and have caused people to flood the streets despite COVID-19.
Singhgrewal said farmers will starve under the new rules, and it has forced them to confront the risks of demonstrating en masse in the streets during a pandemic.
However, in Squamish, demonstrators opted to stay separate by driving through the streets in cars rather than parading through the roads on foot.
"Sikh communities [have] always been known as warriors," said Kaur. "They know when to take [a] stand for their rights."
