Why would they not have a right to see you certificate or registration? Certainly, if they call the police, you'll have to produce both.
In any case, as
@anzacjack says - polite and calm.
Start by telling them - politely and calmly - that your are licensed and the drone is registered. Tell them that you need to keep your attention on the drone and that will be happy to talk with them once you land it. Start you landing procedure and explain that legally, they have to stay at least 100 feet away from the drone, that you are going to land it as soon as they move back, and that they can come back to talk once you have landed and done your post-flight checks.
Side note: it might be possible to interpret bystanders refusal to move back as interfering with an aircraft in flight, or interfering with flight crew - those are Criminal Code offenses with huge maximum penalties.
Once you've landed, if they haven't gotten bored and wandered away, ask them what they'd like to know (keeping social distance
).
In general, I think people are either curious - everyone I've encountered so far - or scared (spying, dropping bombs, etc - all that prime-time TV nonsense). If they're curious, you get the opportunity to share your enthusiasm. If they're scared, you may get to help them understand the reality - not to mention that 'bad guys' probably wouldn't be flying a drone out in public, or have a a certificate or a registered drone.
Another reason that you might actually
want to show your certificate and registration: it gives you a chance to talk about how strict the rules are and how hard the exam is. Even if you found it easy, you can play it up a bit. After all, you had to answer questions about safety, aerodynamics, human factors and the regulations that apply to being a drone pilot.
I also bring my Tello along when I fly. it is tiny and non-threatening. If there is a young person with whoever has approached me, I ask them to stick around while I pack up the drone and say I can show them a tiny drone that can do some tricks. It's a cool, safe way that I can use to demonstrate how drones fly. It also has a couple of party tricks - It'll do dronies (fly backward and ascend while shooting video) and it has downward obstacle avoidance (I hover it, show that I'm not touching the controls and have one of the people slowly lift their hand under it) - that lets me talk about safety features. Then I mention that, because it's so tiny, it can do something that would make the bigger drones crash. "Wanna see?" It can do backflips.? (Actually front, back side or corner flips).
Here's some Human Factors - when we are afraid, we may not even realize it, but we get flooded with neurochemicals that cause the so-called triple-F reaction - Fight, Flee or Freeze. So, that anger someone has when they start yelling at you about your drone? It's from the adrenaline (and other neurochemicals) that are lighting up their brain. When you get yelled at, you're going to get a hit of the same chemical soup. BUT -- if you KNOW that's what's happening, you can control it, and then you have a much better chance of controlling the situation.
Remember the old 'count to 10' before saying something in anger? It kind of works! But try something a little more complex - focus on safely landing your drone. By the time you're done the adrenaline rush may be starting to wear off for both of you.
In the end, you might not be able to get them on your side, but being calm and polite and inviting them to talk about it is the approach that is least likely to make things worse.
Oh, and if they threaten to throw rocks or shoot down your drone, politely and calmly explain that interfering with any aircraft in flight, including small Remote Piloted Aircraft, is an offence under Canada's Criminal Code:
Every one who causes damage to an aircraft in service that renders the aircraft incapable of flight or that is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft in flight, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.
- Criminal Code of Canada (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46) - 77 (c) (
Criminal Code)