FILE PHOTO - David Lindsay, organizer of the anti-COVID-19 restriction rallies in Kelowna.
(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)
January 17, 2023 - 11:00 AM
Anti-vaccine "Freedom Rally" protesters have used Stuart Park to host their protests since early on in the COVID-19 pandemic and the City of Kelowna is fed up.
The City wants to forcefully put a stop to the rallies and applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction against its organizers yesterday, Jan. 16.
Only David Lindsay, a known leader behind the anti-COVID-restrictions protests, is named on the City's petition. Other names are listed as "unknown persons" and John and Jane Doe.
After multiple warnings, bylaw tickets and complaints from the public, the protesters continue to show up at Stuart Park and the Highway 97 pedestrian bridge near Parkinson Rec Centre.
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The City wants to ramp up enforcement and give Kelowna RCMP authority to arrest the protesters.
FILE PHOTO
(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)
To do this, the City is citing its own park use and "good neighbour" bylaws, claiming the protesters are unlawfully hosting events on City property, selling merchandise and disturbing the peace with loud speakers and amplifiers, all without permits.
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Lindsay is behind a "Freemen on the Land" movement, which is a loosely associated group of people believing themselves free from what they see as an overbearing government.
The City claimed in September 2021 it was ramping up enforcement by issuing fines at the ongoing Stuart Park protests, but RCMP was generally only there to take action if there was an "imminent threat" or violence.
The vast majority of public health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted.
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