Urban Camping Wascana Park Style

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Regina, Saskatchewan
So this: Protest camp takes legal action against province, police | 980 CJME
Leads to this: Protest camp responds to Sask. government, want more done | 980 CJME
Leads to this: Province seeks court order against protest camp | 980 CJME

The Justice for Our Stolen Children
camp across from the Saskatchewan
Legislature announced Monday it’s
taking legal action on behalf of the
protesters arrested last month.

The Saskatchewan government
has launched legal action against
The Justice for our Stolen Children
protest camp and Regina Police

Service (RPS) Chief Evan Bray.
The Government of Saskatchewan,
Provincial Capital Commission and
the Regina Police Service are listed
as the respondents in the court
document.

Dan LeBlanc, the camp’s lawyer,
said the court application is being
made on the protesters’ constitutional
right to “express themselves” by
camping in Wascana Park.

The province is seeking a court order
to make police enforce the bylaw
against camping in Wascana Park,
arguing the occupation of the land
gets in the way of the proper use
of the public space.

“What we would hope is if the courts
indicate what occurred on June 18th
unjustifiably interfered with these folks’
right to express themselves, then the
government will take that under
advisement and will be hesitant to
take steps to evict them again,”
he (Dan LeBlanc) explained.

“It is important to stress that we
are not asking the court to stop
the group from protesting. In a
democracy people and groups
have the right to protest and we
respect this group’s right to
protest.

The Wascana Park bylaws prohibit
unauthorized overnight camping,
erecting and maintaining structures,
and burning combustibles, and we
are asking that these bylaws be
enforced,” PCC Minister Ken
Cheveldayoff stated in an
emailed response. “If the
Court Order is granted, we
would expect the Regina Police
Service to assist in its
enforcement.”

The province is seeking a court order
to make police enforce the bylaw
against camping in Wascana Park,
arguing the occupation of the land
gets in the way of the proper use
of the public space.

It goes on to say, “the continued
encampment and occupation of
the land, which is a space open
to all citizens, impedes the ability
of the public to use the land for
its intended use.”

The protest camp has been on
the site for more than 140 days.

Prescott Demas, a supporter of
the camp, said they aren’t
surprised the government has
taken the legal action. He said
he’s a little surprised the camp,
which has been up for more
than 140 days, is still up
because the government refuses
to meet for a second time. As of
Thursday, there were 15 teepees
now set up in the park.

Whatever the outcome, it appears
the protest camp at Wascana Park
in Regina will be resolved in court.
The hearing is set for Aug. 23 at
Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina.

So.....


The Justice for Our Stolen Children camp
across from the Saskatchewan Legislature
announced Monday it’s taking legal action
on behalf of the protesters arrested last
month. The Government of Saskatchewan,
Provincial Capital Commission and the
Regina Police Service are listed as the
respondents in the court document.

The Saskatchewan government has
launched legal action against The Justice
for our Stolen Children protest camp and
Regina Police Service (RPS) Chief
Evan Bray.


This has been so waffled from day 1 with this whole goat rodeo. When the first Tipi popped up in Wascana Park, the Gov't should have dressed up somebody warmly (if was February) to wander out to the tent and state that, "We understand you have concerns, and I hope you understand that you can't camp here or have open fires, and the washrooms are locked up from 9pm until 8am, so come inside where it's warm and lets talk, and them pack up your shit 'cuz if it's here tomorrow morning, it'll be packed up for you." And then done so!! That never happened, and the Police are on their own tangent with their selective enforcement and are named by BOTH sides in this upcoming court slapfest so no matter what they lose on top of looking like fools for not doing their jobs enforcing the law across the board for everyone without selectively deciding who is above certain laws and who isn't. God forbid someone gets labelled a Racist for doing their job.

The Police have lost much face in the way this was handled. The protest camp was finally dismantled after about four months of non-enforcement and six people where arrested but not charged with anything and released within a few hours, and the camp was back up in the same place within three days. So the Police in turn did nothing in response. Meanwhile throughout, the Provincial Gov't and the Provincial Capital Commission have been asking the police to "please just do your job!" for the last close to five months.

A running joke I've heard often lately to the point where it has already gotten old is, "Yeah, but it's just a bylaw so...." in response to everyday things that someone doesn't want to do or just doesn't want to do at that point. No matter what the outcome in court is regarding this whole gong show, I can see it getting ugly and who is going to keep the peace when it happens? I'm still of the opinion that the RCMP may have to be brought in to deal with things as neither side in this holds respect for the RPS (Regina Police Service) at this point. If the Protesters obviously don't respect the police and had their camp set up again within three days, and the Gov't (ect...) has been asking the police to just do their job for about five months and then have to name them in a court action to try to get them to do their job, there can't be much respect for the police left there also. A quarter of a million residents in Regina are watching this happen as it plays out also. No matter what, the police are going to lose more face and this is just a really bad scene.
 
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petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Well. This answers my question of "what happened to Prescott"?

Prescott Demas, a supporter of
the camp, said they aren’t
surprised the government has
taken the legal action

He was the camp until usurped. Now he is just a supporter?
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,216
8,054
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
LINK: Regina police waiting for a court order on protest camp | 980 CJME


When it comes to the protest camp near the legislative
building, the Regina Police Service will abide by
whatever it is the courts decide.

There are two conflicting actions before the courts
regarding the camp – one from the protestors to let them stay there,
and another from the provincial government to make the protestors leave.
The provincial court action requests that any court
order be directed to the Regina Police Service
specifically to enforce the bylaw.

“We, as a police service, obviously we follow
the court. The court process will lay out what is
going to be happening going forward, and we
will comply with that,” said Regina Police
Chief Evan Bray.

In mid-June six protestors were arrested for obstruction
after a deadline from the province had passed
for the camp to be dismantled, none of the six
were ever charged. The camp was put back up
the next day but police haven’t tried to dismantle it again.

Officers are stopping by the camp often to chat
with protestors. Bray said his focus is still on public
safety, including the safety of the protestors.


“The easiest way to ensure that is through good
communication and understanding and relationship
building. So that continues to happen and will
continue to happen until we can get some resolution.”

Bray is confident he’s made the right decisions
so far, not even waiting until a reporter finished
asking the question before replying “yes”.
 
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Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,216
8,054
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina Police have no plans to evict justice camp until a court ruling is delivered

Link: Regina Police have no plans to evict justice camp until a court ruling is delivered | 620 CKRM The Source | Country Music, News, Sports in Sask

No one else will be removed from the Justice
Camp at the Legislative Grounds until court
action’s settled. That’s directly from the chief
of the Regina Police Service, Evan Bray.

As it stands now, there’s two orders before
the courts. “One launched on behalf of the
protest group, one on behalf of the province.

Both seeking Queen’s Bench judge to
adjudicate on what the rights are and what
the rights aren’t,” said Bray. “And we as a
police service, obviously, we follow the court.”

The one from the protesters was filed in
response to six arrests made by the Regina
Police when they worked to disassemble the
protest camp back in June. The province
responded by filing an application asking to
have the camp removed from the Legislature
grounds, and if necessary, force Regina Police
to move them.

Bray said they’re looking for a peaceful
resolution to this matter and police will be
engaged in the legal process.

“The court process will lay out what is
going to be happening going forward
and we will comply with that.”
 
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Decapoda

Council Member
Mar 4, 2016
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Regina Police have no plans to evict justice camp until a court ruling is delivered

...And then appeal...and then SCC appeal...and then?? Better to just fence off the area and close it down.

Actually, maybe that's not a bad idea. Maybe Wascana Park Authority needs to throw up a huge privacy fence around the whole encampment. Protest demonstrations aren't very effective if there's no one to demonstrate to... just a big blank fence staring back at the protesters.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,216
8,054
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Tomorrow 8/23/18 is the first court date. The Irregular Campers vrs Everyone including the City of Regina Police, the Province and the Provincial Capital Commission against the Irregular Campers and the City of Regina Chief of Police. It'll be a royal goat rodeo. Have the microwave popcorn handy.

http://leaderpost.com/news/crime/regina-police-chief-warned-province-protest-camp-is-no-win-situation

Both the provincial government and the protesters
have launched court action. Caught in the middle
is the Regina Police Service, named as
respondents in both actions, lumped in with
the government in one and with protesters in
the other.

He (Police Chief Bray) initially learned of the
camp on Feb. 28 in a phone call from a
senior officer. From the get-go, the PCC
asked Regina police to assist in dismantling
the camp, and the Ministry of Central Services
requested the group leave the park by 5 p.m.
that day. Protesting wasn’t the issue, but tents
and camp fires run afoul of a bylaw — usually
remedied by a simple ticket, notes the affidavit.





Bray saw no reason for police to intervene. “It
was a peaceful protest that did not involve a
threat to public safety.”





“It was becoming increasingly clear to me that
the government and the PCC were growing
impatient with the Regina Police Service,”
says Bray’s affidavit.




So, when asked to enforce the law the day it
was broken, the Regina Police Service promptly
waited 111 days to do so....

“I have been informed if they are taken down,
they will be set up again,” says Bray’s affidavit.

Bray says he went to the camp June 13, urging
a peaceful resolution and warning removal of
the camp “was imminent.” Two days later, at
5 a.m., members of the PCC and Central
Services moved in to dismantle the camp.

According to another police affidavit,
approximately six officers “stood by and
kept the peace” as the camp was taken
down. An agreement was struck to allow
48 hours for the sacred fire to burn out
and the teepee to be removed. It was
indeed taken down, then put back up
and the sacred fire re-ignited — leaving
the chief “extremely disappointed.”

“Now they were openly challenging both
the government and Regina Police Service,”
reads Bray’s affidavit. Everything came to a
head with the takedown on June 18, Day 111
for the camp. Officers were initially sent to
“keep the peace” as the PCC and Central
Services moved in to extinguish the fire and
remove the teepee. But on June 21, National
Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a teepee was
erected again at the site — this time with the
help of many supporters. Bray concedes the
government isn’t happy — but insists RPS
doesn’t take direction from government.



In its court action, the protesters maintain
the teepees, sleeping in shelters, and a
ceremonial fire are part of the group’s
“expressive activities.” They seek a
declaration that the police and
government breached their charter
-protected rights to freedom of
expression and to be free of arbitrary
detention.

In turn, the Provincial Capital Commission
(PCC) wants a court order forcing the
protest group to “vacate and cease
occupying the land,” stop violating
bylaws prohibiting camping and
campfires in Wascana Centre,
and compelling police to “aid in
enforcement.”

The matter is slated to be heard
in a Regina courtroom Aug. 23.
 
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Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,216
8,054
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
Call in the RCMP to uphold the law, and the RPS can hid under its skirt with Bray and watch it unfold on Facebook. Remind the RPS at contract negotiation time that the RCMP had to be called in the last time they refused to do their jobs....





No matter what happens in court, the RPS loses. They've lost face on all fronts through inaction and waffling with the Protesting Irregular Campers, the Government, and I believe the General Public as a whole.
 

Twin_Moose

Hall of Fame Member
Apr 17, 2017
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Twin Moose Creek
Saskatchewan government, protesters in court

REGINA - The Saskatchewan government as well as protesters who have been camped outside the legislature for six months are to be in a Regina court today.
The government filed an application in July asking the court to order members from the Justice For Our Stolen Children camp to leave.
They are protesting what they say is racial injustice and the disproportionate number of Indigenous children apprehended by child-welfare workers.
Police moved in to break up the camp on June 18, but it was set up again a few days later.
Protesters have filed a court application of their own seeking to have six arrests made during that eviction declared illegal.

Eric Adams, a constitutional law expert at the University of Alberta, says safety concerns will probably be brought up by government lawyers.
"If the government can demonstrate those genuine demonstrable safety concerns, or evidence that the protest is inhibiting the functioning of the legislative grounds in some more than trivial way, then they'll have a stronger case," he said Wednesday.
He also suggested that in cases such as this one, a court is going to want to protect political expression to the greatest extent possible.
"(But) even though you have a right to that expressive activity, a court is going to find that at some point, pretty early in the process, the government can limit that expressive right for a number of other valuable policy reasons," Adams said.
Adams said the camp reminds him of the Occupy movements of 2011 during which several parks around North America were taken over by people protesting social and economic inequality.
 

Mowich

Hall of Fame Member
Dec 25, 2005
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'An agreement was struck to allow 48 hours for the sacred fire to burn out and the teepee to be removed.'

Holy shit..........that must have been one helluva a huge campfire.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Low Earth Orbit
When it was just Prescott it was consis tent.

'An agreement was struck to allow 48 hours for the sacred fire to burn out and the teepee to be removed.'

Holy shit..........that must have been one helluva a huge campfire.

The clean up and putting down new turf is going to be $250,000.