Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran told a sexual assault survivor and advocate of the citysa国际传媒檚 rape survivors to sa国际传媒渂e quietsa国际传媒� as she demonstrated in council chambers today.
Demonstration occuring in council chambers. donning signs and a shirt that reads 'rape culture lives here'
sa国际传媒� Michael Rodriguez (@MichaelRdrguez)
Donning a shirt that read sa国际传媒榬ape culture lives heresa国际传媒� and a sign that read sa国际传媒榶our silence speaks volumessa国际传媒�, Heather Friesen began to speak to her issues during a regularly scheduled council meeting but was stopped by the mayor.
sa国际传媒淢asa国际传媒檃m if you could please be quiet, that would be appreciated,sa国际传媒� Mayor Basran said to her.
sa国际传媒淛ust like you?sa国际传媒� quipped Friesen.
In a Tweet following her exit of council chambers, Friesen said the mayor should know by now that she wonsa国际传媒檛 be quiet.
Mayor Basran,
sa国际传媒� The Other Heather (@pinklady_ktown)
If there's one thing you should have learned by now.
I'm not ever going to be quiet about rape and rape culture in Kelowna.
That's apparently your job.
The city and Kelowna RCMP detachment came under fire in October 2019 after sa国际传媒 revealed 40 per cent of sexual assaults reported to police in 2019 were deemed sa国际传媒渦nfounded.sa国际传媒�
Since then Friesen has been on the warpath, calling the city sa国际传媒渟teeped in rape culturesa国际传媒� and organizing both a protest in front of the RCMP detachment and a petition to implement a sex crime unit for Kelowna. She has also become one of the most outspoken advocates of sexual assault victims in the city.
Friesen said shesa国际传媒檚 met with several councillors and other local politicians, who have expressed their support behind closed doors but have yet to make a public statement. She did not give the names of those shesa国际传媒檚 met with but said Basran refused a meeting.
Following the meeting, Basran denied that Heather made a formal request to speak to him.
This is the second time Friesen has attended a council meeting to call out the mayor and councillors directly.
The Kelowna RCMP has completed an internal review of the extremely high number of unfounded sexual assaults, however, the results have not yet been made public.
sa国际传媒淲hy arensa国际传媒檛 (councillors) asking the Kelowna RCMP to give them that review?sa国际传媒� Friesen said.
The council meeting continued as scheduled but after it was adjourned, the mayor said he will request the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 report on the unfounded sexual assaults come to light.
READ MORE: Kelowna RCMP completes internal review of sexual assault cases deemed sa国际传媒榰nfoundedsa国际传媒�
READ MORE: Sexual assault survivor confronts Kelowna mayor at council meeting
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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