People have a fundmental right to peaceful protest, but there are limits to what is considered a protest.
Community Safety Director Darren Caul says, “Almost every event we receive phone calls with people concerned that we are sanctioning or permitting such gatherings, and so it provides us the opportunity to educate people around the charter protected fundamental rights for peaceful assembly and for people to understand what the role of the city and what the role of the police is in cases of protest.”
Kelowna city bylaws will be enforced when lines gets crossed.
“You can certainly work with our bylaw office if you’re looking to organize a protest to understand where those lines are… You should be focusing on the elements of the protest which are necessary and reasonable. Event tents, merchandise sales, amplifiers, live music, signs that are damaging our irrigation system, none of that is reasonable or necessary.”
Fourteen fines totaling $3,900 for non-compliances has been issued to organizers to the past three weeks.