‘Justifiable infringement’: Lawyer weighs in on City of Kelowna attempt to stop freedom rallies – Okanagan | 24CA News

So-called freedom rallies have been an nearly weekly prevalence at Kelowna’s Stuart Park because the onset of the pandemic with public well being restrictions,  together with vaccine mandates, on the forefront.

While the protest dimension has dwindled, the rallies proceed with none permits from the town – a allow is required for any occasion being held in a public house.

“There have been no permits applied for in any of these cases,” mentioned Kevin Mead, bylaw companies supervisor with the City of Kelowna.

“There’s been a number of events that have been impeded with everything from fundraisers to the children in the thriller events on Halloween,” Mead mentioned.

And after two and a half years of civil disobedience and complaints from the general public, the town has had sufficient.

The metropolis has filed a petition for a court-ordered injunction to place an finish to the unpermitted rallies on the park as soon as and for all.

The injunction would authorize RCMP to arrest and take away protesters who’re contravening bylaws through the use of downtown parks with out written permission from the town.

“It allows us to work with our enforcement partners to enforce the order that will come from the courts,” Mead mentioned.

Global News contacted people who participated in previous rallies however didn’t hear again by time of publication.

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Vancouver lawyer Kyla Lee did weigh in although.

“The city is clearly taking this step as a matter of last resort. There’s been significant leeway given to people as part of their freedom convoy protesting groups,” Lee mentioned.  “At some point, the public spaces have to be used by other members of the public as well.”

Lee added that a whole lot of what’s being protested doesn’t have an effect on the general public anymore.

“Although you do have a right to freedom of expression, those rights can be limited where it is reasonable to impose limitations on the rights because a lot of what’s being protested by the freedom convoy right now isn’t actually affecting people anymore. There are no mandates. There are no mask rules. You can travel freely throughout the country.”

While the BC Civil Liberties Association wasn’t accessible for touch upon how such an injunction infringes on individuals’s rights and freedoms, Lee mentioned she believes the infringement, if there’s one, is justifiable on this case.

“I see this as a justifiable infringement,” Lee mentioned. “These people have had the opportunity to air their grievances for two years now, without an injunction being sought and because they’re not being enjoined from protesting altogether, but just from using certain spaces to protest, it is a limited infringement of their rights, so it is likely justified given the circumstances in our current day.”

City Bylaw has issued greater than 200 fines to organizers of the rallies over the course of the final two and a half years, none of which have been paid.

“A number of disputes have been received for which a number of hearings have been undertaken; many of those tickets have been upheld,” Mead mentioned. “That adjudication process is undertaken by a provincially-appointed adjudicator as an impartial third party to review the evidence and make decisions.”

While it’s not recognized what number of of these tickets have been upheld or how a lot they quantity to, Mead mentioned the town it’s now contemplating its subsequent steps in pursuit of settling these fines.

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