A grassroots campaign has defeated a bylaw that would have severely restricted the rights of people to demonstrate in the city. The campaign quickly mobilized a several-hundred-strong rally in protest of the vote on the weekday morning of February 17. However, with governments across Canada looking for ways to pass similar laws, protesters say the fight is far from over.
On February 10, Winnipeg City Councillor and chairman of Property and Development Evan Duncan quietly initiated proceedings to enact the Safe Access to Vulnerable Infrastructure By-law. The bylaw would have made protest within 100 meters of designated facilities an offence punishable by fine up to $5,000.
A map produced by community groups charitably interpreting the conditions of the proposed by-law shows much of the city would have been blanketed by the restriction. The by-law defined protest as “expression of disapproval toward an idea, action, person, or group.”
The North Star spoke with people gathered at the rally on February 17.
“I was disturbed. I thought that city council was massively overreaching,” says Josh, a Safeway worker and member of the 1919 Workers Collective. “I’ve never heard people at my work talking about what the city councillor or mayor is doing, but this was so widespread that in just a few days I overheard a few discussions. People were angry, some felt very deeply about it.”
“Winnipeg has had a lot of Palestine rallies and anti-ICE rallies recently, so when the government moves to try and inhibit our ability to protest against these horrific things going on in the world, it makes me worry that they are on the wrong side.”
Throughout the day, City Hall was flooded with speakers from the public who had learned about the vote as a result of community organizing efforts. Councillor Duncan remained stalwart in the face of accusations that City Council’s Executive Policy Committee was being used to circumvent transparency, describing the backlash as a product of “misinformation”.
In the days leading up to the vote, Councillor Duncan, who represents Winnipeg’s wealthy Charleswood-Tuxedo neighborhood, made numerous references to events in the United States to justify the proposed by-law. Daniel, who immigrated to Canada from the United States 12 years ago, takes issue with this.
“This idea that increasing policing capabilities and decreasing the rights of the people is a response to what is going on in the United States, really insinuates that they see wrongdoing on the part of the people standing up for their rights and not on the police and military presence infringing on those rights.” He says. “I think it speaks poorly to the direction things are headed in this country.”
Reflecting on the protest, he says “This was a valuable demonstration. It speaks power into what we can accomplish when we recognize that the people are all on the same side, and that we’re fighting a vertical struggle rather than a sideways one.”
As public opposition spread throughout the city, Evan Duncan announced he would withdraw his support for the by-law, stating he had “no intention” of restricting the right to protest. Instead, Duncan says federal Bill C-9 would “address much of what we were trying to tackle.”
Bill C-9 is a proposed amendment to Canada’s Criminal Code which would greatly increase governmental powers to criminalize popular demonstrations. The bill is currently on hold after facing intense opposition from numerous groups, including the Canadian Constitution Foundation.
“I think it is extremely dangerous to everyone’s democracy, a lot of us are concerned about C-9 and we don’t want that to happen either,” says Candace, who became politically active during the Freedom Convoy. “It’s honestly hard to watch. When you see these politicians, the way they just disregard us and act like they can control us, it makes me angry.”
While The North Star conducted interviews among the crowd, several activists with clipboards gathered names and contact information from protesters so that the event’s organizers could follow up with those who attended.
Candace says demonstrations like this are important steps in resisting divide and conquer tactics by those in power. “Today’s event is a coalition. When the people unite to make things happen, that is exciting. We’ve had a great divide over the last several years, and it was very nice to come together with people from all walks of life. I’m very excited about mending fences and building bridges. People need to come together,” she says.
The North Star also spoke with Melahat, an Indigenous activist and community gardener who helped organize the campaign, about her experience as one of over 120 delegate speakers against the by-law in City Hall.
Delegates were made to submit their full names, the names of their organizations, and to have their photos taken to be admitted to the building. “City councilors came across as very aggressive, very dismissive,” says Melahat.
“They were making us seem like bullies, and we were very careful in how we organized this. It just goes to show we’re always going to be the bad guys, we’re always going to be the nuisances, even if we follow all of the rules.”
“A lot of them were on their phones the whole time. This one Zionist lawyer zoomed in to speak in favor of the by-law. They gave him an extra 10 minutes and asked him a bunch of questions. For us, it didn’t feel like we were being heard. They rushed us out.”
Melahat says it is important to take the right lessons from this and not to get complacent. “We’re talking to them, but they aren’t listening to us. They want us protesting in these designated zones, like at City Hall and at the Legislature, where they can just ignore and sit in their cushy little offices.”
“We need to keep watching them. We need to keep them in check. Just because this didn’t pass doesn’t mean it’s over,” she concludes.
Josh says that even with the by-law being defeated, the entire experience has left him thinking about what comes next. “It’s almost like democracy isn’t working. The people that get elected don’t represent the people they’re supposed to […] What is our response going to be if our voice isn’t enough? We need to think about what it would mean to escalate if we can’t get what we want just by standing outside City Hall.”
“It’s more important than ever that people organize on the power that they have as workers and as renters. We live in a capitalist society which relies on our participation, so organizing collectively to withhold that participation is the only real guaranteed way to stop governments from taking advantage of us.” he says.
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