Calgary considering next steps as COVID-19 protests continue

Even though most COVID-19 health measures are behind us in Alberta, the weekly protests in Calgary’s Beltline have continued and residents in the area are getting fed up.

The Saturday demonstrations snarl traffic, cause significant noise, and show no sign of stopping after mask mandates and vaccination policies have been rescinded.

City councillors heard a confidential update at city hall about police strategies, and while many details of the meeting are confidential there is a possible sign there could be additional enforcement as well as more engagement.

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“The approach is multi-faceted and a little bit complex,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said about all the agencies tasked with trying to manage the protests.

Ward 8 Councillor Courtney Walcott said it has become clear the temperature has certainly been turned up lately, as people who live in the area have come out to directly oppose the protesters and this is making the situation even more complicated.

“The conversations that residents are having amongst each other and the viewing that they have around these (protests), that’s the hardest part to solve and that’s the part that we’re still going to be working on weekend after weekend,” he said. “Two weeks in a row, first week it was a smoke bomb, second weekend it was a disruption in the street. So I think the message needs to be clear and the communication needs to be very clear about what everybody wants.”

Related article: 

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• Beltline pandemic protests in Calgary pose threat to public safety: neighbourhood association

Gondek added that the people in the Beltline who are going face to face with the protesters should not be labelled simply as counter-protesters either.

“Many of those folks that are labelled as counter-protesters actually live and work in the Beltline. They are residents and they are business owners. I think if we want to focus on the fact that there’s a protest disrupting this neighbourhood, let’s not call the people who live and work there counter-protesters.”

As frustration builds over the demonstrations, there’s a significant debate over what is the best way to handle them and limit the disruption to people who live in the area as well as those who hope to visit. Walcott is adamant the right to protest has to remain in place, but the dynamic has also been shifting.

“With the presence of counter-protests that have started showing up in the past couple of weeks, the (Calgary Police Service) will have to make a decision on whether or not they want to continue in the same manner they have,” he said. “What does significant action mean, and what are our legislative abilities to take any form of significant actions? Those are very significant questions that I think we all have to figure out for ourselves.”