It was billed as a sit-in to protest a May 21st decision by Penticton City Council to amend is "Good Neighbour Bylaw." But there was so much more at play this morning at downtown Penticton's Nanaimo Square.
Last Tuesday, council voted to okay an amendment to Bylaw 2012-5030, wherein sitting or lying on a sidewalk in the 100 to 300 blocks of Ellis, the 200 to 400 blocks of Martin, and the 100 to 700 blocks of Main during the May 1 to September 30 time frame would be considered an "obstruction" and was therefore subject to a $100 fine.
The ruling, meant to deter "unwanted social activity" and spurred in part by purportedly increased complaints from downtown businesses and the Downtown Penticton Association, was met on social media with controversy. Was it punishing the most unfortunate among us, or a much needed step toward a safer, cleaner downtown? Or a little of both?
A few days prior, Monday Night Dinners, a non-profit service that feeds many of the same people the bylaw appears to address, made the decision to move from its longtime Nanaimo Square home. It cited the upcoming bylaw vote, various business and citizenry pressures, and a new arrangement where part of the Square was now chained off and apparently leased to the adjacent Petrasek Bakery.
Self-described activist Chelsea Terry organized the Saturday morning sit-in, mostly through social media, and she was front and centre at the prescribed 10 a.m. start time. And she didn't mince her words.
"I volunteered in the past for Monday Night Dinners and I heard about all the injustices that are happening with them and getting pushed out of the Square. And I'm just really upset with this bylaw and wanted to do something about it."
Sitting next to a cardboard box filled with printed copies of the bylaw amendment and surrounded by a couple dozen other protestors already on the scene, Terry continued.
"Basically what they're doing is banning sitting down. I have two main objections. One is that it's extremely discriminatory. They're not going to be targeting kids at the parades, they're not going to be targeting sunstroked old people. They're going to be targeting people who can't afford it."
"From what I've heard, they talked to a human rights lawyer before they pushed this bylaw through, because they knew they were right on the edge of a human rights violation. And it's also very vague. They don't give a lot of clarity to what an obstruction is. And that's not a thing I think they should be passing."
Across Nanaimo Street from Terry were Vivian Short and Crystal Woodward, who together affixed a sign reading "This is a public bench" to a tree above one of the rounded benches that now lay within the new Petrasek Bakery patio zone.
"I think it's horrible what they're doing," said Woodward. "Who gets ticketed and who doesn't. Of course they'll only ticket the homeless. I'm just here to support my community and people who need help."
By now the crowd was growing. A group of police officers looked on from Main Street, but kept their distance. The protest was peaceful.
And that's when Kona Sankey showed up. Sankey is a key volunteer with Monday Night Dinners, and she was up front about the pressures the service has endured.
"We've had a lot of people fight against us in different ways. Between getting so many mixed messages, we've done what we can to keep fighting for those who we know are in our corner. There are a lot of aggravated people in this town and unfortunately they're lashing out against the entire group of people who are homeless or not so well off, rather than those who are causing the trouble."
Sankey said they never did get an official booting, but were able to see the writing on the wall.
"We've been harassed in numerous ways. Between city hall, private citizens, and the Downtown Penticton Association, there have been lots of little moves and counter moves against us. It feels like a conspiracy."
But, she said, Monday Night Dinners will rise again. "We'll be at Sunrise Pharmacy (at 749 Main Street) starting June 3rd. We won't have as much seating, but we will have power, we have a welcome space, and reliable access on site I believe to a Foodsafe kitchen, which everybody suddenly seems to concerned about."
In a few minutes we were chatting with another protestor named Kevin, who was sitting quietly with his dog Baileys.
"I've been picking fruit here for four years. I've always been outside. When I was 13, I left home. So I found that Penticton is a really nice place to live when you're homeless."
"Four years ago, we had some nicer people here hanging out at the square. Now they've kicked everybody out. Now it's easier to find speed and meth and hard drugs than to find a cigarette in this town."
"Now you've got some bylaw to chase me in the night where I sleep, or to chase me from the sidewalk when I'm totally free to be here. And they're moving the Monday dinner. It's how I feed me and my dog. I don't use any drugs. I have a drink once in a while. But that's legal, right?"
"I'm against those bylaws where instead of solving the problem, they just move it away so the nice tourists can see a sparkling city."
Nearing noon, the protestors and their supporters, one of whom was South Okanagan Women In Need Society executive director Debbie Scarborough, numbered perhaps four dozen. And we opted to venture into 301 Main, the vintage building abutting Nanaimo Square and the home of Petrasek Bakery.
And that's where we encountered Adam Power. Power owns a security business headquartered in the building, and he had some stories to tell.
"Nanaimo Square is currently an open air drug market. I can tell you that because my office is right next to it. And from 10 in the morning to 6 at night, it's a hub for people to come and purchase drugs."
"We started to video record it and post the videos online, and these are the people we're trying to target. The drug dealers, the prostitutes, the people who are aggressively panhandling, and the people who are destroying property."
"Some of the strategy is to put up barriers and signage so the space outside can be used by the right kind of people. So families can come down here and enjoy the space without worrying they'll be accosted by hardened criminals and drug addicts."
Power said they're putting up eight cameras this weekend. "We report everything and that's all you can do at this point because it's an enforcement issue, not at the police level, but at the court level."
But he also said he was aware of both sides of the argument. "I think what people are protesting here right now is the distasteful way the bylaw was written, and I really understand that. Something that could be a catch-all is not the right way to go."
And then it was time to chat with Petrasek Bakery owner Jan Petrasek.
Seven months ago, Jan and wife Sylvia opened their sparkling new bakery in the old post office building. Originally from Slovakia, the couple, with their two children in tow, had made their way around the world, only to end up choosing this town in this country and investing a substantial nest egg into their passion. Petrasek Bakery has since built a reputation for some of the finest made-from-scratch bread and bakery items in the city.
And now they're pondering leaving.
Petrasek confirmed that the space behind the black chain on the once fully public Nanaimo Square is now for customers of his bakery.
"Yes, it is our patio now. Because the city asked me and the bylaw officers asked me, because we complained, and a lot of people complained. The patio is there so now the police can come and say you cannot stay here to the people who are making the mess."
And, he says, it was a city initiative. "We did a favour to the city by having that patio. They wanted to clean up, but they had no tools. They said we want to clean, and I said yes, and thank you very much for it."
The normally soft-spoken Petrasek claims the past half year has been somewhat of a nightmare. "There's alcohol outside, p*ssing outside, drugs, dealing drugs with kids. Every day. This is what's going on. We've been here six months and it's constant."
And he has specifics. "There was a guy smoking right in front of my door. He threw the end of the cigarette onto the street in front of me. It happened many times. So I asked him to please don't do that. But he still did it."
"So I called the bylaw officers and they said they'd just talk to him and leave because they cannot do anything in a public space. The next time I saw him, he asked me if I called the bylaw officers, and I said I did. And he said, 'We don't like people like you here. Go back to Romania where you come from.'"
"One other guy said I'm poor and hungry and don't have any money. So I gave him coffee, food, and twenty bucks. So he came again and I did it again. And again."
"So we told him he could not do it again. My wife told him, because I was in the back working. And he started swearing at her. Screaming at her. After that, he came again, and my wife told him to get out. And he said, 'F*ck you, b*tch. I will shoot you one day.'"
"So I called the police. And now, he can't be within a hundred meters of here. But he's come here for the dinners."
"A couple weeks later, some guy in Penticton shoots four people. So, should we take what this guy says seriously, or just turn the page after he says he wants to kill my wife. Because why? We didn't give him enough?"
Petrasek said he's also not overly thrilled with the city. "I'm also mad because the bylaws and the city are not backing us up. They let all the news spread, they're using us as a shield."
And he seems sincere when he says that if the situation doesn't improve, his family may potentially return to Slovakia.
"We're considering leaving, yes. If this is what is going to happen more and more, why do we need it? If you had people using your door as a bathroom and threatening your family, what would you do? We feel like we've ruined our lives because people don't know what they're doing here."
