Pro-palestinian activists fined following protests at Tomkins Park
Organizer says city's move to ban group from demonstrating there is political
Activists protesting Israel's onslaught on Gaza are questioning why the city has suddenly banned their weekly political protest at Tomkins Park, long a popular venue for political demonstrations.
After holding two protests at the park at 17th Avenue and 8th Street S.W. in December, an organizer for the group Justice for Palestinians Calgary said they were told by city officials on Feb. 1 that political demonstrations are not permitted there.
They went ahead with demonstrations the past two Sundays and have been issued two $250 fines.
Wesam Cooley said he suspects the city's motives are political, though officials say the protests' larger size and a historic covenant frowning on religious or political demonstrations are factors.
“It's never been cited or applied before, so it's pretty dodgy,” said Cooley.
“If the city's arbitrarily going to start applying this 100-year-old law and only apply this to us, it would be problematic.”
He said demonstration organizers have ensured activists don't block vehicle traffic while marching, and are respectful to businesses and pedestrians on 17th Avenue.
“Police officers every week tell us we're disciplined and very organized,” said Cooley, adding they've encountered support from non-participants.
“But it hasn't won us any favour from the city.”
The Tomkins Park location is preferable because it's more publicly interactive than the more sterile Municipal Plaza, he said.
His group didn't have permits for the December protests at the park, nor for the two February events there, said Cooley. He added they wouldn't have been granted for the latter two anyway given what they've been told by city officials.
“We have no issue with going through the process of obtaining permits,” said Cooley.
“Now the city has effectively told us our protests (at Tomkins Park) will never be eligible for those permits, which is unacceptable.”
A Feb. 1 email to Cooley from the city's parks bookings rejecting his group's demonstration application says that “under the Calgary Heritage Initiative, Tomkins Park cannot be used for religious or political reasons.”
Ryan Pleckaitis, chief of community standards, said a covenant included in the 1915 donation of the land by Henry and Eleanor Tomkins is conditional on the park's space being used for leisure activities only.
Plekaitis said business owners and visitors to the area have complained about the size of the protests.
“It interrupts business and traffic, and despite multiple efforts to move them to a more suitable location (at Olympic or Municipal plazas), it's kind of fallen on deaf ears,” said Pleckaitis.
“Without question, the tickets issued are not politically driven. If the events happened at Olympic Plaza, there'd be no issue.”
He said the 1915 covenant “is not an enforceable provision under bylaws but it should be considered by the city.”
There's no official size threshold for demonstrations at Tomkins Park, said Pleckaitis, who added applications “can be evaluated on a case-by case basis.”
Last December, Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld said if pro-palestinian protests continued on their heated trajectory, more arrests could be expected.
Earlier that month, he publicly urged demonstrators to move their protest back to Municipal or Olympic plazas where there was more space and less disruption — advice that was ignored.
But in mid-december, he said demonstrations at the 17th Avenue park hadn't resulted in anything “too bad.”
Cooley said he's been told by city officials the $500 in fines would be waived if the group moved its activities back to Municipal Plaza, but isn't sure they'll do so.
“People still want to be out there,” he said.
The city has effectively told us our protests
(at Tomkins Park) will never be eligible for those permits, which is unacceptable.