Council was told security hired to prevent encampments wouldn’t make arrests. One councillor is questioning why city documents say otherwise.
By:Jillian Elliott
The camp of B.C.’s homeless population that’s been protesting for months has been raided by security officers from the RCMP, who arrested at least three people.
The city’s deputy mayor, and the police director of Service Canada, were also present at the scene when RCMP officers arrived, says Coun. Melissa De Genova.
“I’m baffled by City of Vancouver security records,” she said in an interview.
“To think that there would be people living in the camp and people not living in those campers that have to be protected and yet I can’t get through to the city, and I can’t get through to the police and I can’t get through to the RCMP,” said De Genova.
On Sept. 21, RCMP officers entered the camp after a dispute between two camps set up there.
Homeless protesters from across the city set up the first camp to protest the city’s plan to demolish the downtown Yaletown homeless shelter.
But, shortly after taking up residence, others moved into the camp, and things turned violent, eventually resulting in police intervention.
“I can’t understand how, and the documentation I have to get through City Hall is beyond baffling,” said De Genova.
The city told Global News in a written statement: “The RCMP attended at the request of police services. During the course of their visit, they were concerned by some of the activity of the protesters and sought to de-escalate the situation.”
Last week, De Genova filed a notice of motion seeking an investigation into the raids and arrests that she says is necessary to determine whether they were politically motivated.
The mayor, who has made a
