Perennial B.C. protesters face criminal charges after sharing videos of vandalizing rainbow crosswalk in Surrey
Head of Freedom Party of B.C. Amrit Birring & former environmental activist Errol Povah now spreading anti-vaxxer, anti-LGBTQ messages
July 28, 2026
There’s nothing Surrey resident Errol Eric Povah likes more than seeing his face in the media protesting about anything and everything.
Since as far back as the 1990s, the now 70-year-old got his face in front of a camera to fight commercial whaling, the tobacco industry, bullying landlords, big oil, all arguably noble causes except for maybe the latter to fans of pipelines.
More recently, however, Povah has taken a turn for the ignoble, hopping on the anti-medical science conspiracy theory bandwagon and, most recently, stepping it up with bigoted homophobia.
Povah was in Surrey provincial court Monday (July 27, 2026) applying to vary bail conditions for his latest criminal charge. He is out on bail, charged in connection with defacing a rainbow crosswalk shoulder to shoulder with screeching homophobe Amrit Singh Birring. Birring is head of the Freedom Party of B.C., an anti-vaxxer, anti-LGBTQ movement, who has been vocal about wanting books he doesn’t like banned from Surrey schools.
Birring has run far-right extremist campaigns for every level of government, always with dismal results. He also likes to protest in front of schools and MLA offices yelling homophobic propaganda in opposition to the Province’s SOGI-123 anti-bullying resource, and sharing that on Instagram.
Birring took his sharing a step too far on May 30 when he posted a video on social media of him and Povah using black spray-paint to deface a rainbow crosswalk at the corner of Old Yale Road and University Drive next to Holland Park in Surrey. After vandalizing the intersection, shared to the blaring sound of "Fortunate Son" by Creedance Clearwater Revival, Birring speaks directly to the camera. He’s partially indecipherable, but at one point says, “What will happen? Maybe a bylaw infraction?”
Not quite. A criminal investigation was started by the Surrey Police Service. On June 26, Birring was charged with one count of mischief to property over $5,000. He turned himself in and was released with conditions.
One day later on June 27, not yet charged himself – likely jealous he wasn't getting the media attention Birring got – Povah went out and vandalized the crosswalk again. On July 6, Povah was added to the May 30 count of mischief to property over $5,000 and charged with a second count for the June 27 damage.
He was released on bail on July 7 with no financial obligation. He had a date in court for an application to vary his bail on July 28 and is next due in court on August 19. Birring is scheduled for a first appearance to face the charge on August 31.
A history of protest
It takes nothing more than a basic Google search to see Povah’s face proudly bragging about his latest exploit in media coverage over the last quarter century.
Born in 1953, Povah apparently spent 30 years working for BC Ferries as well as 20 years with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. According to an article outlining the activist history of several environmental protesters facing jail time in The Tyee from 2022, Povah has travelled to Antartica to shut down illegal whaling, to the Faroe Islands to protect pilot whales, and to the Sea of Cortez to protect an endangered species of porpoise. He also apparently helped try to stop a whale from being killed in Neah Bay, Wash., in 1999.
While that sounds about as far away from his 2026 hate-motivated vandalism, that’s not all. In 2010, Povah embarked on a 6,300-kilometre walk from Victoria to Imperial Tobacco’s Montreal Headquarters then south to New York City to raise awareness about tobacco use. Three years after that, he was celebrated as a “champion for tobacco-free living” by The Lung Association & Heart and Stroke Foundation.
In 2017, he was in the news standing on a street corner with a sign that said: “$TOP $TRATA IN$ANITY!” protesting unreasonable fines several renters were complaining about at a Surrey high-rise condo where he lived.
A year after that, he got involved with those opposed to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project at the time owned by Kinder Morgan. He was sentenced to 150 hours of community service for blocking a gate within an injunction zone on Burnaby Mountain. He was arrested again locked in a so-called “sleeping dragon” that blocked construction equipment. The device is a delay technique that locks protesters’ limbs together in a way that conceals the locking mechanism thereby foiling peace officers from removing it easily.
Povah also ran as an independent in the provincial election in Richmond-Queensborough and received 258 votes.
A more vocal activist
Birring has been a much more overt anti-LGBTQ activist, waving signs and protesting SOGI 123 in front of schools and political offices. He has run for every level of government, failing with low numbers each time. He ran with the People’s Party of Canada in Fleetwood-Port Kells in the 2021 federal election finishing with 2.7 per cent of the vote. Then he ran under the People’s Council Surrey banner for mayor of that city in 2022 finishing with 1.9 per cent of the vote, good for a solid sixth place. He ran for provincial MLA for Surrey-Newton in 2024 where he pulled in 2.4 per cent of votes.
On social media, Birring also said recently he is running for Surrey school board in the municipal elections in October 2026.
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Paul J. Henderson
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