Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran told a sexual assault survivor and advocate of the city乌鸦传媒檚 rape survivors to 乌鸦传媒渂e quiet乌鸦传媒� as she demonstrated in council chambers today.
Demonstration occuring in council chambers. donning signs and a shirt that reads 'rape culture lives here'
乌鸦传媒� Michael Rodriguez (@MichaelRdrguez)
Donning a shirt that read 乌鸦传媒榬ape culture lives here乌鸦传媒� and a sign that read 乌鸦传媒榶our silence speaks volumes乌鸦传媒�, Heather Friesen began to speak to her issues during a regularly scheduled council meeting but was stopped by the mayor.
乌鸦传媒淢a乌鸦传媒檃m if you could please be quiet, that would be appreciated,乌鸦传媒� Mayor Basran said to her.
乌鸦传媒淛ust like you?乌鸦传媒� quipped Friesen.
In a Tweet following her exit of council chambers, Friesen said the mayor should know by now that she won乌鸦传媒檛 be quiet.
Mayor Basran,
乌鸦传媒� 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 乌鸦传媒 revealed 40 per cent of sexual assaults reported to police in 2019 were deemed 乌鸦传媒渦nfounded.乌鸦传媒�
Since then Friesen has been on the warpath, calling the city 乌鸦传媒渟teeped in rape culture乌鸦传媒� 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 she乌鸦传媒檚 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 she乌鸦传媒檚 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.
乌鸦传媒淲hy aren乌鸦传媒檛 (councillors) asking the Kelowna RCMP to give them that review?乌鸦传媒� Friesen said.
The council meeting continued as scheduled but after it was adjourned, the mayor said he will request the RCMP乌鸦传媒檚 report on the unfounded sexual assaults come to light.
READ MORE: Kelowna RCMP completes internal review of sexual assault cases deemed 乌鸦传媒榰nfounded乌鸦传媒�
READ MORE: Sexual assault survivor confronts Kelowna mayor at council meeting
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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