On Democratic Rights During The Olympics
Written on Feb 13th, 2010
This morning I got to walk along Robson Street and watch the protests as they occurred. Given that I saw first-hand how the police officers and the protesters interacted, I thought I would make a few comments. First, it is everyone’s democratic right in Canada to be allowed to protest peacefully — these rights are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That said, you are not allowed to protest violently, or to break any of the normal laws of this country while in the process of protesting. Vandalism and destruction of property are not forms of protest, they are forms of violence. For the most part, I didn’t witness any altercations between the police and the protesters. I was actually surprised when a few protesters knocked over some newspaper bins that the police didn’t intervene. I suspected that the police were waiting for more people, or perhaps […]
