Falun Gong practitioners protest outside of Vancouver City Hall, April 13, 2011 - Vancouver.Brett Beadle for The Globe and Mail
With less than a week to go until Vancouver city councillors debate a controversial protest bylaw, the final wording is still not complete, raising concerns that politicians and the public will not have enough time to review it.
The bylaw first proposed by city staff earlier this month would have banned the use of temporary structures for demonstrations in residential areas - such as the Falun Gong protest hut outside Vancouver's Chinese consulate. The draft bylaw also included a fee of $200 to erect a structure on a city sidewalk and a $1,000 refundable deposit, stirring debate over free speech.
Mayor Gregor Robertson rejected the bylaw proposal and sent it back to staff for redrafting. The city had indicated the revision would be ready by Wednesday, with councillors scheduled to meet next Tuesday.
"Council can't make an informed decision about what they think about [the bylaw] what they'd like to see changed about it, or whether they want to support it all," said Councillor Ellen Woodsworth, who wondered whether the delay would hinder members of the public from properly formulating their response.
The proposed bylaw marks the latest salvo in the feud between the Chinese consulate and the Falun Dafa Association of Vancouver. The Falun Gong - a spiritual group that alleges the Chinese government has killed hundreds of thousands of its practitioners - established its protest hut outside the consulate in 2001. The city obtained a court injunction in 2009 to force the group to remove the structure. But the B.C. Court of Appeal sided with the Falun Gong in a challenge of the injunction last fall and gave the city until April 19 to rewrite a bylaw that it said was inconsistent with the Charter right of freedom of expression.
Ms. Woodsworth, who represents the Coalition of Progressive Electors, said she's heard a great deal of concern since the proposed bylaw was introduced. Within a few hours, she said, nearly 20 people had signed up to raise their objections before council.
David Cadman, another COPE councillor, echoed Ms. Woodsworth's objections. "It's a huge concern. What we're doing here is taking a single problem, namely the Falun Gong outside the Chinese consulate, and now we're writing a bylaw for the entire city."
Clive Ansley, the lawyer representing the Falun Gong, said he's "cautiously optimistic" the city will take his group's concerns into account when finalizing the bylaw's wording. "I would hope that the people working on it have had a chance to realize a blanket prohibition in residential areas can't be justified when you have consulates there."
The Falun Dafa Association has said the city's actions are politically motivated. The city consulted with the Chinese government over the wording of the law.
The Falun Dafa Association staged a protest outside Vancouver City Hall on Wednesday morning. They held signs that said "Canadian values or Chinese consulate's demand?" and "Our Charter of Rights must not be undermined." About 50 protesters were there, some alleging torture at the hands of the Chinese government.
One association member lay down on a table while two others dressed as surgeons pretended to operate on her. The Falun Gong have accused China of selling the organs of some practitioners.