Calgary council to send letter to police commission on Beltline protests

Calgary city council has voted in favour of sending a letter to the Calgary Police Commission as protests against COVID-19 restrictions continue every weekend in the Beltline.

The motion was brought forward during a special meeting of council on Tuesday. Ward 12 Councillor Evan Spencer presented the motion, calling for immediate action and a new plan to address the ongoing demonstrations.

Things escalated last weekend when so-called ‘freedom’ protesters and counter-protesters came face to face with one another, leading to the latter being pushed back by police, causing uproar online.

Police pushing counter-protesters on 17th Ave. in front of Western H.S. this afternoon. Didn’t see such aggression towards the protesters who have made living and working in the beltline hell every Sat for weeks. In fact it almost looked like they’re in cahoots. Pls retweet #yyc pic.twitter.com/KBxGO5g6EQ

— ritasirignano (@ritasirignano) March 13, 2022

A draft of the letter that was proposed says councillors have continued to receive messages from Calgarians, raising concerns about the protests and how they continue to disrupt not just business, but the daily lives of those in the area.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the proposed letter to the police commission is meant to give a better picture of what residents and businesses can expect this Saturday.

“This letter is in fact asking, requesting from the body that practices citizen oversight, to give us an idea of what’s going to take place next weekend,” she explained. “That’s about as much as we can do. This is not going outside our purview and legal has confirmed that it’s not.”

Apart from the letter, nothing else has been planned to end the ongoing anti-mandate protests in downtown Calgary.

Gondek says the letter still does achieve something, and wanted people in the area to know they aren’t giving up on them.

https://twitter.com/Tommy_Slick/status/1503861445838401538

“The point is there are very clear roles and responsibilities and council’s roles are incredibly limited. Within this letter, it is clearly outlined what our role is. It’s also very clearly outlined that we are happy to assist in enforcing the bylaws as we need to, but we need support from our partners,” Gondek said.

Ward 2 Councillor Jennifer Wyness also had brought forward her own notice of motion that would look to include having conversations with those directly involved with the protests.

Wyness said she wanted to get a better idea of what the protesters are actually protesting about.

Tomorrow at the #yyccc emergency meeting about the Beltline protests, I am going to propose to council we offer those who feel their voice is not heard an opportunity to speak to council. A public hearing, similar to what was offered to BLM protesters. #yyc /1

— Jennifer Wyness (@JenniferWyness) March 15, 2022

After some engagement with council, Wyness chose to withdraw the motion.