Rights commissioner starts inquiry into Vancouver police media restrictions at camp removal - Action News
Home WebMail Sunday, November 10, 2024, 09:18 PM | Calgary | 0.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
British Columbia

Rights commissioner starts inquiry into Vancouver police media restrictions at camp removal

British Columbia's human rights commissioner has launched an inquiry into police restrictions on journalists covering the decampment in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in April.

B.C.'s human rights commissioner says there are reports of blocked access to Downtown Eastside in April

VPD officers form a line to push back protesters and advocates while city employees work to dismantle tents along East Hastings in the downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
City employees dismantle tents and structures along East Hastings Street in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. B.C.'s human rights commissioner has launched an inquiry into police restrictions on media covering the dismantling of the homeless camp. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

British Columbia's human rights commissioner has launched an inquiry into police restrictions on media covering the decampment in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in April.

Kasari Govender says in a news release that reports of Vancouver police denying access to some journalists covering the decampment "raise serious red flags and merit investigation.''

Govender says it is crucial for media to be able to gather information on possible human rights violations when police are conducting operations where they may come into contact with marginalized people.

She says there were "multiple reports'' of journalists encountering blockades or not having access to parts of the Downtown Eastside during the police operation where police were pulling down tents and disposing of campers belongings.

Vancouver Police said last month there were no media exclusion zones during the tent-clearing operation, but reporters were gathered at a "muster point'' for safety reasons.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim had said the tent removals were ordered due to police and the fire chief's warning of rising crime and fire risk stemming from the East Hastings Street camp, which reached about 180 structures at its peak.