The Burnaby RCMP is investigating the alleged assault of a campaign worker after housing activists took over Anne Kang’s campaign office Tuesday.
The group, all members of Alliance Against Displacement, refused to leave until they met with NDP leader John Horgan in hopes of drawing attention to the issue of demovictions in Burnaby. The event was staged the same day the writ was dropped, ahead of the NDP’s housing platform released on Thursday. The platform includes a promise to require “fair treatment during renovictions and demolitions of rental properties.”
The non-violent protest appeared to escalate, according to B.C. NDP media spokesperson Jen Holmwood.
“One of the protesters was arrested for assault after violently shoving a campaign worker,” she said in an email to the NOW.
Burnaby Mounties arrived shortly after 1 p.m. and ordered the protesters to leave or risk facing arrest. They left one hour later.
Ivan Drury, an organizer with the group, said he was detained by police Tuesday after the protest for an investigation into an alleged assault against a campaign worker and was released shortly afterward. He denies the assault and said a campaign worker was the one who was hostile.
“He began to scream at us very aggressively, and with two hands, struck one of the protesters in the chest really forcefully, really angrily, and she flew back three feet. Then he shoved one woman who was in the door and tried to force her out, pressing on the door with his whole body against her arm, screaming the whole time at us,” Drury said.
“We wanted to meet with John Horgan in order to put forward these concerns and ask them to incorporate these policies in their campaign platform,” he said. “If they consider that to be hostile, that means they’re positioning themselves against the interests of regular people in Burnaby, thousands of renters, and I think working class people in the whole province.”
Zoe Luba, another organizer with the group, said they targeted Kang’s office because she is both a city councillor, belonging to the Burnaby Citizens Association, and is also running for the B.C. NDP in the riding of Burnaby-Deer Lake, which has seen a lot of demovictions.
“We held the space. We stayed occupying it demanding the meeting with Horgan,” Luba said. “We did leave upon threat of being arrested.”
Mayor Derek Corrigan, when asked about the incident, said: “Do you really think that’s what politicians should respond to?"
“If they were to stand in front of me, I would say that you deny yourself any legitimate voice when you act like bullies,” Corrigan told to the NOW. “They’re not speaking on behalf of anyone; they’re bullies.”
Last month, when Corrigan was out of town, the group staged a similar protest in the mayor’s office for three hours before a councillor and city manager spoke with them.
