Inside Politics

UPDATED - PostPMProtestSpinWatch: So, what the heck happened in Vancouver?

by Kady O'Malley Posted: February 10, 2010 6:54 PM Last Updated: February 10, 2010 10:44 PM
The prime minister has only been in British Columbia for a few hours, but his pre-Olympic tour is already proving to be a memorable one, at least for those who were at the Chinese Cultural Centre in Vancouver where he was scheduled to watch a dress rehearsal this afternoon, only to be greeted by several hundred  protesters who were apparently unhappy by his government's decision to appeal the ruling on the InSite safe injection site. 

NDP MP Libby Davies, who took part in the protest, described it afterwards as a "peaceful protest."  

The prime minister's associate director of communications, Dimitri Soudas, had a different view. 

Before going any further, I must apologize in advance for the somewhat  in the report that is to come, but as I'm not there, I'm trying to piece together the story from a variety of sources, most notably the on-the-spot reports sent to the press gallery listserv by the aforementioned Soudas, starting with the following note, which arrived under the subect line "Send to gallery asap please" a little after 5pm ET: 

: With "welcoming committe" as Harper arrives in DES. He should be in parl. Insite saves lives - crazy to appeal court decisions #fb  18 minutes ago 


"Veterans, seniors and young children are currently being prevented from exiting or entering the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver because of the libby davies "welcoming committee" has taped all exits shut. This is a lack of respect for seniors, veterans canadians of chinese origin and the young kids inside the building. The situation has created a security risk for all the people currently in the building. Some doors have been chained or taped shut while people were preparing for a Chinese New Year rehearsal."


Dimitri N. Soudas
Associate Director | Press Secretary
Directeur  associé | Attaché de presse

Communications
Prime Minister's Office
Cabinet du Premier ministre

This photo was attached: pmopic1.jpg

A second note, with the following photo -- described as "Door taped shut by Libby Davies "welcoming committee" -- arrived a few minutes later: 

pmopic3.jpg

A few minutes later, a third bulletin arrived: 


- Inside the chinese cultural centre are 250 chinese canadians who have gathered for a dress rehearsal of their chinese new year parade.
- At approx 125pm, about 200 protestors descended on the cultural centre and swarmed the building, will bullhorns, plackards and masking tape.
- They proceeded to block access to and from the chinese cultural centre, then began taping all the doors shut
- Another 50-75 protestors arrived and began chanting and cursing. Protestors totalling close to 300.
- Of the 250 chinese canadians, 50 are uniformed veterans, 50 are young children who have come to showcase their culture to the pm and media

in the horrible event of fire of emergency, all those goodwilled people would be prevented from exit


Is libby davie proud of this?


He also sent along this picture from inside the event: 
pmopic2.jpg

In an interview by phone with CBC Power and Politics that took place after she had left the protest, Davies claimed that the building was "wrapped in police caution tape," and that police "were able to move in and out" with ease. She repeated her tweeted contention that she didn't see chains on doors, and noted that there were police "going in and out of various doors" throughout the demonstration. 

Dimitri Soudas, who was also virtually present by phone, maintained that protesters "chained the building where there were young people, veterans and seniors waiting to celebrate the Chinese New Year." "If there were chains in the doors and anyone was in danger," she asked, "would the police have allowed that?" Soudas, however, continued to fume, and wondered how she'd feel when she found out there were chains -- or at least one chain -- involved. 

 Honestly, y'all, I have no idea what to make of this. Clearly, chaining the doors to a building shut while there are people inside is a Very, Very Bad Idea, but I can't help but wonder why any police force would allow such actions. It's all very murky, and unfortunately, being on the other side of the country means I can't pop by and see for myself, which is frustrating. I'll update this post when we know more, but I'd caution commenters not to jump to conclusions on either side.

UPDATE: According to the Globe and Mail's Ian Bailey, "more than three-dozen officers surrounded the building" during what he describes as a "peaceful but noisy protest that saw activists chain the doors, ring the complex with yellow police tape and target it with portable police sirens." (emphasis added)

What's not clear is why the police would have stood by while protesters put those inside the centre at risk in the event of a fire or other emergency requiring evacuation, as alleged by Soudas. How extensive was the door chaining -- and did it actually prevent them from exiting the building? I've put in a query to the Vancouver Police Department, and as soon as I hear back, I'll let you know. 

ANOTHER UPDATE: Canadian Press reports that the police "removed the chains" but allowed the protesters to "continue on their way," although they also told CP that the protesters "infringed on the rights and safety of the people inside the cultural centre, taking only minimal steps to ensure those locked inside were able to leave safely." 

Also, the Power and Politics segment featuring Dimitri Soudas and Libby Davies is now online for your viewing pleasure. 

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, the prime minister did, in fact, make it inside the doors of the Chinese Cultural Centre, according to a release posted to his official website this afternoon. (In case that page goes missing for some reason, here's a link to the Google cache.) 

UPDATE: Contrary to earlier reports, it seems the PM's visit to the centre was delayed, not cancelled; he eventually managed to slip inside the centre after the protesters had dispersed. 

I'll keep updating this post if new information comes in, but I think we may be as close as we're going to get to the full story. I have to admit that I think the tactic of targeting a prime ministerial event that involves a large number of entirely innocent bystanders would seem to be a distinctly dicey one, from both a moral perspective and purely for the unfortunate optics that ensue. (I would like to know what the police meant by "minimal steps," however, since that implies that the door-chainers did take such concerns under consideration.)  

That said, it wouldn't surprise me if we see more PM-centred protests over the next few days. It will be interesting to see if his office changes its strategy in responding if similarly unforeseen complications arise during future photo ops. 

ONE LAST UPDATE: Just to reiterate what I tweeted a few moments ago, given the timeline, it seems as though it would have been entirely possible for the chains to have been removed by police before Libby Davies arrived, or without her having been aware of them. At the same time, Dimitri Soudas was correct in stating that, according to the Vancouver Police Department, the protesters may well have temporarily blocked the exits. 

See? It is possible for two people to have two radically different perceptions of the same event without either of them knowingly misrepresenting the facts. Would this be a bad time to suggest apologies all around? 

Tags: blackberry jungle, libby davies, pmprotestwatch