B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie has granted the city an interim injunction order to remove all open flame and flammable fuels including propane from the Occupy Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»tent city site by 7 p.m. tonight.
By 2 p.m. Thursday, the protesters camping on the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Art Gallery grounds must abide by the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Fire and Rescue Services chiefs orders to space tents apart by three feet and to remove unoccupied tents. Tarps will no longer be allowed to obscure the tents.
If the Occupy protesters dont comply with the order, fire department officials have the authority to enter the site and enforce the order. They can also request the assistance of police if necessary.
Lawyer Jason Gratl, acting on behalf of Occupy Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»protesters, told reporters after the judges decision he was optimistic protesters would comply with the interim injunction.
When asked about Police Chief Jim Chus announcement Tuesday that protesters had to leave the grounds of the art gallery, Gratl said he knows the chief is a very reasonable man and doubted he would unnecessarily involve his department in confrontation.
Protester Elijah Ignatieff said the citys court action was unreasonable and pointed out participants had been peaceful until the clash with police Monday night when firefighters attempted to extinguish a fire in a barrel.
It was the police that actually crossed the line in the sand the first time, he said of the incident in which police officers were bitten and one had an ammunition clip stolen. Up until now, weve been totally non-violent, we want to be non-violent but were just a little afraid of the police. Thats why we dont want the police enforcement here.
Protester Dayla Hart said she was shocked by city lawyer Ben Parkins comments in court which relayed excerpts from affidavits filed in court by a police officer and assistant fire he heard that protesters would bash in and crush heads, if firefighters attempted to enforce fire safety bylaws.
I have never heard that and I am on the site pretty much all the time unless Im here in court, said Hart, who resides in her apartment at night. That is extremely uncommon. Ive never heard any language used to that extent. I would argue that the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Art Gallery lands is open space and that anybody can step up and they are not necessarily a representative of our non-violent movement.
The order comes on the second day of a court hearing in which the city applied for an injunction to have the tent city disbanded. Protesters have camped out on the north lawn of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Art Gallery since Oct. 15 as part of a global protest in hundreds of cities around the world against what participants say is corporate greed and growing disparity of wealth in the West. The protest was peaceful in its early stages and treated sympathetically by city politicians, city hall officials, the police and the general public. But after the death of one young woman at the site last weekend, and a near fatal overdose days before, official and public support has waned. Both Vision Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Mayor Gregor Robertson and Coun. Suzanne Anton, Robertsons NPA rival for the Nov. 19 mayoral vote, are calling for the tent city to be disbanded.
Gratl raised a concern in court today about allowing aboriginal protesters to continue to use a barrel to light a sacred fire at the site. The use of such a fire became contentious Monday night when fire department and police personnel moved into the site to douse the flames. A scuffle with protesters developed, resulting in at least two police offers being bitten and anothers ammunition clip being stolen.
An aboriginal woman named Telquaa, who identified herself as the hereditary chief of Bear Clan Families of the Wetsuweten in northwestern B.C., spoke in court. Fire is a sacred thing to us and Id like to see it stay, she said regarding the fire barrel. People have come to me for blessings through that fire.
MacKenzie left specific requests from protesters for fires on the site to the discretion of the fire chief.
The hearing was adjourned until Nov. 16 at 10 a.m. when the broader constitutional issues relating to the protest will be considered.
Twitter: @howellings
