Protesters promise havoc at mall

 

By David Carrigg-Staff writer

Pacific Centre Mall security staff could have their hands full when protesters led by the Anti-Poverty Committee try to stop hundreds of people from entering the mall.

Jill Chettiar, protest organizer, said APC is asking protesters to arrive at the mall on Saturday, Oct. 2, to set up a "poor person's picket," blocking hundreds of delegates from entering to attend the opening of the International Downtown Association's 50th anniversary conference. The IDA is a U.S.-based group focused on keeping downtown cores economically and socially viable.

"The reception is in the rotunda and we'll have a poor person's picket and make a bunch of noise and make it uncomfortable for them to have their meeting," Chettiar said. "Essentially we will make it impossible to meet. That's our goal."

Chettiar could not estimate how many protesters are expected, however, given the protest is against the proposed Safe Streets Act, she expects widespread support.

The Safe Streets Act, which is backed by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, would allow police to charge vagrants with trespassing and to deal with aggressive panhandlers and squeegee kids. The association is hosting the IDA's three-day conference.

According to a poster distributed Friday night by APC activist Anton Pilipa, the protest is aimed at "hundreds of like-minded shitheads from around the world to celebrate the suffering of poor people. There seems to be nothing they fear more than the disorder of panhandling and squeegee kids so that's what we're gonna give 'em."

The poster depicts a black jackboot about to crush the Pacific Mall's rotunda at the corner of West Georgia and Howe streets.

Dave Jones, the DVBIA's director of crime prevention, said APC has been targeting the association since it threw its support behind the Safe Streets Act proposed by Vancouver-Burrard MLA Lorne Mayencourt. On June 24, about 40 APC protesters stood outside the Wall Centre during the association's annual general meeting and screamed obscenities.

APC's first major political action was May 1, 2002, when dozens of protesters stormed the Pacific Centre Mall to rail against the provincial government's $6 training wage. Four APC members were charged, but the Crown dropped the charges.

The following month, APC prevented Premier Gordon Campbell from making a speech at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Its members were later involved in the Woodward's squat. Last June, APC protesters prevented Stan Hagen, former Minister of Human Resources, from meeting with groups in the Downtown Eastside.

Jones said APC has infiltrated the Downtown Eastside Residents Association and developed contacts with Native groups outside of Vancouver. He fears there could be a large turnout but said security staff at Pacific Centre Mall are unlikely to be caught off guard again.

Val Harrison, the police department officer responsible for the downtown core, said the department's emergency operational planning section is devising a strategy to handle the protesters.