In the ongoing saga of a provocative demonstrator group occupying overpasses in North Vancouver, only one person has been arrested – and it wasn’t one of the demonstrators.
On June 15, North Vancouver RCMP arrested a man who cut a demonstrator’s sign off the Keith Road/Mt. Seymour Parkway overpass, which then fell to the side of the highway below, narrowly avoiding the passing traffic.
Const. Mansoor Sahak confirmed that the man was arrested for mischief related to the incident, but later let go. “I can’t confirm if he will be charged,” Sahak said.
In contrast, none of the demonstrators have been arrested or charged for their ongoing Thursday occupations of the nearby Mountain Highway overpass, despite an injunction issued by B.C. Supreme Court on May 11. The injunction prohibits anyone from gathering on or occupying the overpass.
While police presence has been heavy in previous weeks, no officers were on scene this Thursday (June 22), as around seven people gathered on the Mountain Highway crossing. As usual, they focused their efforts on slow-moving drivers trickling westbound toward the funnel of vehicles trying to leave the North Shore via the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.
Also akin to previous weeks, they waved signs that accused educators of “grooming” children by teaching them about sex and gender in classrooms – specifically the SOGI 123 programming available in B.C. schools – and banners that deny the existence of transgender children altogether.
And again, keeping with previous demonstrations, police haven’t enforced the injunction, while maintaining that the groups messaging, while hateful, doesn’t meet the criminal threshold for hate speech.
Amid increasing calls from municipal officials, the Ministry of Transportation and the community for law enforcement to act on the court order, North Vancouver RCMP issued a statement on Wednesday.
“The greater public has responded to these protests over the past few weeks, both in person and online, to make clear the fact that they do not align with the values of the community as a whole,” reads the statement. “North Vancouver RCMP shares the community’s concerns.”
But the statement underscored the Charter rights of the demonstrators.
“If we enforce the injunction, we have to make sure that doing so will not infringe on the Charter rights of any individual,” said Insp. Jayson Lucash, officer in charge of the detachment.
When it comes to the court order, the statement noted that North Vancouver RCMP continue to “assess” the injunction and are seeking further clarification from the Ministry of Transportation.
In response to the statement, the ministry said, “We continue to ask police to act on the injunction to provide for the safety of the travelling public.”
“This injunction order remains in effect. The ministry continues to monitor the situation and will need to review further actions,” the ministry told the North Shore News by email.
Protests a ‘co-ordinated, far-right attempt to scare people into hate,’ activist says
The lack of police enforcement also came up in District of North Vancouver council on Monday. At the meeting, pro-2SLGBTQIA+ activist Steph Wilson said authorities have failed to enforce an injunction for more than a month.
“I have observed rally participants stand in vehicle lanes, hold signs over railings and into overpass traffic, engage with drivers by yelling into open vehicle windows and engage with cyclists and pedestrians on both levels. This is unsafe and unacceptable,” she said.
“But what is most harmful is the hate that queer and trans residents are forced to endure every Thursday. There is no pornography in school libraries. Teaching kids that queer and trans people exist doesn’t magically turn them gay,” Wilson continued.
“What we are seeing is disinformation employed in a co-ordinated, far-right attempt to scare people into hate, scaring people into supporting the erosion of 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. This is discrimination against queer and trans people,” she said.
Speaking to the News, Wilson said it’s not the police’s job to analyze court orders.
“It’s ridiculous that the RCMP thinks that they have a role in determining Charter rights for one group and not the other, because LGBTQ-plus folks are the ones who are losing their human rights over this,” she said.
Mayor Mike Little said Wilson could count on council as allies.
“This is not OK. It’s not acceptable in our community…. We have been in constant communication with the Ministry of Transportation to try to address how they can improve their response,” he said, adding that the injunction should extend to all North Shore bridges.
But Coun. Catherine Pope said more needs to be done. “It’s not good enough to just speak internally or to the ministry – we need to show leadership on this,” she said.
Despite receiving widespread condemnation for their rhetoric, members of the group have said their message isn’t one of hate. As they prepared to gather on their favoured strip of concrete on Thursday afternoon, Premier David Eby said he wished they would “go home.”
“The content of the protest, obviously, it’s quite hateful. It’s really, in my opinion, seeking to divide British Columbia and to foment division and hatred in our province,” Eby said at an unrelated news conference.
