Langford mayor to throw good money after bad: Why Stewart Young wants to sue penniless protestors for the cost of a huge police raid he ordered
by
Zoe Blunt
Two weeks after he called in a massive military-style strike against a handful of sleeping campers, Langford Mayor Stewart Young has got the bill, and it's a doozy.
Young apparently signed a blank cheque on the taxpayer's account
when he called in a small army of police to the site of the
controversial Bear Mountain Interchange on February 13. Over fifty RCMP
officers, many with assault rifles pointed at protestors, stormed the
camp in the pre-dawn hours and evicted five people. Two were charged
with mischief. Two others were charged later for stopping construction
equipment.
Now Young is threatening to sue those involved with
the protest for the cost of the raid. Not only that, he is threatening
to sue me in particular – and I haven't committed any crime. I was not
arrested, charged, detained, or even questioned about any alleged
illegal activity. But I am guilty of disagreeing with Mayor Young's
sickening development ambitions, so he's threatening to SLAPP me - with
a strategic lawsuit against public participation.
Young's
police raid racked up well over $100,000 in bills to taxpayers this
month. A lawsuit could cost twice that, and it is not likely to be
successful. Such a lawsuit by a municipality is almost unprecedented.
Add
those taxpayer costs to the $25 million that Langford council is
attempting to borrow on behalf of the Bear Mountain developers, and
here's the bottom line: Stewart Young is reckless and irresponsible
with other people's money. His hugely expensive police attack was far
out of proportion to any possible threat the campers posed, and now he
thinks he can get the money back by suing people who have no assets. In
my opinion, Young is unfit to run a lemonade stand, let alone hold
public office.
On the morning of the police raid on the tree
sit camp, RCMP officers were brought in from as far away as Surrey and
Nanaimo for the overkill operation, which left two Langford
neighbourhoods behind police lines for three days. Dozens of residents
were detained by police every time they entered or left their street.
One officer who would not give his name told a protestor there were 300
police involved in the raid and the three days of RCMP roadblocks and
24-hour checkpoints on both sides of the Trans-Canada Highway.
Young's
police adventure and his legal threats violate the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms, which is still the law of the land – even in Langford.
Times Colonist story.
Background: Bear Mountain Tree Sit
http://treesit.blogspot.com
--
ZoeBlunt@gmail.com
