The rallying cries of one person who will be participating in the Kelownasa国际传媒檚 peaceful Black Lives Matter rally on Friday (June 5) are already echoing through council chambers.
At the end of a nearly two-hour-long council meeting on Monday (June 1), Heather Friesen piped up as she has many times before sa国际传媒� this time, demanding city councilsa国际传媒檚 presence at the rally on Friday.
As Friesen began her minute-long rant, the mayor adjourned the meeting and exited chambers.
Friesen continued to yell at the remaining city councillors, asking them if theysa国际传媒檙e planning on attending the rally.
sa国际传媒淵ou tweet about it; you praise Vancouver for it,sa国际传媒� she shouted, pointing at Coun. Ryan Donn. sa国际传媒淕o to the one here and support Black Lives Matter here.sa国际传媒�
Coun. Mohini Singh was quick with a retort: sa国际传媒淒onsa国际传媒檛 yell. How do you know wesa国际传媒檙e not going to be there?sa国际传媒�
Friesen, a vocal advocate of the citysa国际传媒檚 sexual assault survivors, is no stranger to making her opinion known to city council. Shesa国际传媒檚 done so twice before, confronting the mayor and council at a meeting in both November 2019 and February 2020 regarding the citysa国际传媒檚 at-the-time 40 per cent unfounded sexual assault numbers.
After an investigation by the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 federal Sexual Assault Review Team concluded in February, it was found several cases in that 40 per cent unfounded were classified improperly. After reclassification, the local detachmentsa国际传媒檚 numbers came in line with the national average of around 15 per cent. The Kelowna RCMP also implemented a sexual assault unit and reopened 12 sexual assault files following the federal review.
No city councillors confirmed their attendance at Fridaysa国际传媒檚 rally before exiting council chambers.
READ MORE: Kelowna RCMP to further investigate 12 sexual assault cases, create sexual assault unit
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