EDMONTON - Occupy Edmonton protesters who defy an 11 p.m. Sunday deadline to vacate a downtown lot will be “subject to removal by lawful means,” according to a letter sent by the corporate owner of the land.
The notice, which informs Occupy Edmonton demonstrators that Melcor Inc. will file a complaint with the city, was delivered Saturday afternoon. The letter offers a provision if the demonstrators agree to submit a plan to dismantle their site.
“Melcor will defer this notice if the authorized representatives of Occupy Edmonton provide Melcor and the EPS a specific plan of action with acceptable dates for the orderly, peaceful and safe dismantling of the Occupy Edmonton facilities and property on the site,” the notice reads.
Earlier in the day, Occupy Edmonton protesters said cold weather and legal orders elsewhere wouldn’t cause the group to leave.
Mahad Mohamed, a third-year student at Grant MacEwan, is one of roughly ten Occupy Edmonton protesters who braved overnight temperatures on Friday that dropped to -21 C with a wind chill that made it feel like -32 C, according to Environment Canada.
A thickly-bundled Mohamed emerged Saturday morning from a large canvas, military tent, one of two main sleeping quarters at the Occupy Edmonton site on the corner of Jasper Avenue and 102nd Street.
“It’s a movement, we have to sacrifice something,” said Mohamed, who is writing a paper on Occupy Edmonton for an international relations course. “Every revolution, you have to sacrifice something. This is one of our sacrifices.”
On Friday, a group of Edmonton Police Service officers, firefighters, and community services personnel visited the lot to check how the group was adjusting to the cold, said Acting Insp. Graham Hogg. Most concerns surrounded fire safety, carbon monoxide ventilation, and the dangers of cold exposure. Police officers will visit twice a day to ensure everyone, including homeless people who now live at the park, is healthy.
“The checks were with that focus,” said Hogg. “We asked them to check on the homeless people quite consistently throughout.”
The inspection was prompted by an Edmonton Journal photograph that concerned the Edmonton fire department, Mohamed said. Organizers were told that a fire inside a teepee, the second main sleeping spot, was a danger.
The Occupy movement has already faded in several western Canadian cities. Protesters in Vancouver have been given a Monday deadline to shut down their tent city. Camps in Regina and Victoria have been dismantled, while demonstrators in Calgary are vowing to remain in Olympic Plaza.
Mohamed said Edmonton’s campsite is prepared to endure the weather, bolstered in part by a $7,500 donation from the Occupy Wall Street movement. The military tent can house up to 20 campers. On Friday, Mohamed began to post messages on Facebook inviting departed demonstrators to return.
“We’re ready to host people,” Mohamad said as he fiddled with an unlit cigarette. Other protesters cooked oatmeal inside the smoke-filled tent. “We’re telling people to come back, we have warm places to put them.”
Mohamed has been a regular at the park since two dozen tents were pitched on Oct. 15. While many tents remain, most are unoccupied, he said. The group has decided to let tent owners remove their own property.
Melcor, the development company that owns the park, had asked that protesters not stay overnight, but hadn’t filed a complaint with the city. Mayor Stephen Mandel has warned that a “time is coming” to deal with local protesters.
Hogg insists upcoming meetings between the city, police, protesters, and Melcor will be non-confrontational. They’ve watched police raids in places like New York and have no plans to follow suit.
“That’s not going to be our approach at all,” Hogg said. “Every time someone’s tried to push, they’ve pushed back, and it just doesn’t seem to end well at all. I think there’s an opportunity for them to get a really positive message out.”
Hogg was working downtown the first night of the protests, and has been one of the main liaisons with the Occupy protesters. He describes the interactions with demonstrators so far as “very collaborative,” and “favourable” compared with other cities.
But there have been a few bumps between Occupy protesters and police.
Mohamed said police have called employers and schools of protesters. He also says he’s personally watched as Edmonton police dropped off a homeless person in the alley behind the tents, a tactic he claims is being used to discredit the movement.
Hogg is unaware of any calls made to employers, and denies police have dropped off any homeless people.
“We continue to remove vulnerable people at their request into the shelters,” Hogg said. “To do otherwise is contrary to our policies.”
More to come ...
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