Why the Yellowknife protest's 'event planner'didn't actually plan the protest

Over 100 protesters drove across Yellowknife on Saturdayto voice opposition to public health restrictions and show solidarity with the convoy in Ottawa.

Several vehicles attachedCanadian flags and signs expressing disdain for vaccine mandates.

A single flatbed truckled the procession with a sign that read "Thank you truckers."

Drivers passing byeither honked in supportor shook their heads at their sight.

Who planned the event remains a mystery.

CBC News was unable to reach the organizers and was informedby an attendeethat theydidn'twant to speak publicly for fear of reprisal at their place of employment.

The week leading up to the event included a bizarre social media situation involving someone impersonating a Yellowknife resident and posing as the event's organizer.

Public event impersonator

A false Facebook pagefor an event planner, impersonating Yellowknife resident BrieO'Keefe,created one of the only online public events for the protest.

O'Keefe is not a professional event planner nor did she organize the rally.

The online event didn't get much traction, as only one person said they were going before it was taken down byits creator.

"I'm hesitant to even speak to the media about it because I don't want to give them the attention that I feel like they are craving, or the fact that they seem to want to inconvenience or upset me," O'Keefe said of the impersonator on Thursday.

"So I'm just trying to keep a good sense of humour about it, and I'm not really concerned that anyone will actually think that this is me."

The page included photos that were lifted from O'Keefe's personal Facebook page, but she wasn't too bothered by that.

"I mean they chose nice photos," she said with a laugh.

Theaccount has since been removed after thereal organizers persuaded the individual behind it to do so, she said.

She said she was unable to get Facebook to remove the impersonating profile because it was a page, not a personal account.

CBC News reached out to Facebook, but did not receivea response by deadline.

CBC News also reached out to the individual who created the fake account.

The message was read, but not responded to.

O'Keefe said she thinks the person did this because she gave a thumbs down sign to the protest that was held last week, and then posted about it on social media.

"I did post on social media that I was proud to have been able to make eye contact and give this person a thumbs down to indicate I didn't approve," she said.

Protesters gatherin Ottawa

The protest in Ottawa started as a movementagainst the mandate for cross bordercommercial drivers to be vaccinated.

Protesters, including truckers, drove from across the country, growing in size and messaging. It now includes peopleprotesting all vaccine mandates, masks mandates, lockdowns and a variety of other health restrictions that came in as a response to COVID-19.

A number of business groups, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, issueda warning earlier this week, saying the trucker mandate could disrupt the free flow of goods between Canada and the U.S.

TheCanadian Trucking Allianceissued a statement in opposition to the convoy, stating that the vast majority of truckers are fully vaccinated.

Butit warned that anywhere from 12,000 to 16,000 Canadian cross-border commercial drivers roughly 10 to 15 per cent of all truckers who regularly cross the Canada-U.S. boundary could be sidelined by the federal mandate.

The world's top doctors and scientists maintain that a highvaccineuptake ismost effective way to end allCOVID-19 restrictions.

A protest against public health restrictions was also scheduled to be held in Hay River on Saturday. The organizers of this event refused to be interviewed by the CBC.