On the steps of Kelowna City Hall today, Mayor Colin Basran took a few minutes to proclaim the first ever Vegan Awareness Week. It comes just days ahead of this weekend's Vegfest which will take place at Immaculata Regional Highschool. The proclamation is being seen by members of the vegan community as a signal that their dietary choice and lifestyle is gaining mainstream acceptance. 

Vegfest organizer Wendy Aigner saw today's proclamation as a watershed moment.

"It's amazing actually. That was a very proud moment for us," said Aigner.

As for the dietary habits in his house, Mayor Basran and his family aren't vegan. At least not yet. "We've become really cognizant of climate change and the impacts that it's having," said Basran who is eating less meat than ever. "So we've made the choice to certainly limit it. We haven't cut it out completely, but I certainly understand why some people have."

Former RCMP Sgt. and media spokesperson Dan Moskaluk was on hand for the event. He came to embrace a plant-based lifestyle when he was faced by a health crisis. "Back in 2013 I was diagnosed with a terminal diagnosis of stage 4 kidney cancer," said Moskaluk." He and his wife had been moving toward a plant-based diet, but it was at that point that they went all-in. "And then within 15 months, cancer free," he said. 

For activists like Tessa Gordey, it's the treatment of animals in the meat industry that compels her to stick to a vegan diet. She took a moment to read to us from Agriculture Canada's Code of practice for euthanizing piglets:

"Blunt trauma can be administered by grasping the hind legs of the piglet and striking the top of the cranium firmly and deliberately against a hard, flat surface."

"It doesn't matter," said Aigner. "If someone comes to veganism through seeing horrible things or learning about horrible things that happen to animals or if it's through wanting to change the environment, or if it's for their health, it doesn't matter really."  

For vegans in Kelowna, today is "a big day."