The rallying cries of one person who will be participating in the Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 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 乌鸦传媒� this time, demanding city council乌鸦传媒檚 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 they乌鸦传媒檙e planning on attending the rally.
乌鸦传媒淵ou tweet about it; you praise Vancouver for it,乌鸦传媒� she shouted, pointing at Coun. Ryan Donn. 乌鸦传媒淕o to the one here and support Black Lives Matter here.乌鸦传媒�
Coun. Mohini Singh was quick with a retort: 乌鸦传媒淒on乌鸦传媒檛 yell. How do you know we乌鸦传媒檙e not going to be there?乌鸦传媒�
Friesen, a vocal advocate of the city乌鸦传媒檚 sexual assault survivors, is no stranger to making her opinion known to city council. She乌鸦传媒檚 done so twice before, confronting the mayor and council at a meeting in both November 2019 and February 2020 regarding the city乌鸦传媒檚 at-the-time 40 per cent unfounded sexual assault numbers.
After an investigation by the RCMP乌鸦传媒檚 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 detachment乌鸦传媒檚 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 Friday乌鸦传媒檚 rally before exiting council chambers.
READ MORE: Kelowna RCMP to further investigate 12 sexual assault cases, create sexual assault unit
READ MORE: 乌鸦传媒楶lease be quiet,乌鸦传媒� Kelowna Mayor tells sexual assault survivor protesting in council chambers
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