Premier Christy Clark faced a barrage of complaints for choosing June 21 to celebrate International Yoga Day

Premier Christy Clark faced a barrage of complaints for choosing June 21 to celebrate International Yoga Day in B.C., with a plan to close the Burrard Street Bridge in Vancouver for seven hours at a cost of $150,000. Called Om The Bridge, the goal was to hold the largest yoga event outside India. But it wasn’t just the money that bothered people. As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was delivering its final report summary and recommendations, some saw Clark’s plan as ironic, with the premier failing to acknowledge that June 21 is National Aboriginal Day here is this country. Hundreds of people said they would show up to the Om The Bridge for a counter-event, and instead of yoga pants, organizers were asking people to wear traditional regalia and “bring your drums”. After a Tweet from the Premier taunting “yoga-haters”, Clark was harangued on social media, which prompted her to roll up her yoga mat and say she wouldn’t be participating because the day was being politicized. Sponsors soon pulled out and Om The
Bridge became a sad memory. The Burrard Bridge is in the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, and runs through a Squamish Nation reserve.