Finally at about 6:30pm the staff could get the boards back up.
I attended what should have been an open house for 105 Keefer tonight, but this honestly came off more as a rally against the project. I arrived about 30 minutes into the open house to see about 3 dozen people chanting, yelling through a megaphone, and carrying banners. The model at this point was already covered with a protest banner, and of course there were a couple perspective far left city council candidates on hand for their photo op.
What transpired over the next hour was something that starts with an "s," is four letters long, and doesn't rhyme with "Gong Show." About 15 minutes after I arrived, the megaphone was put down and the group proceeded to make a circle around the covered model, forcing anyone from the general public away from even the information boards. They began to walk circles around the covered model. They rattled noise makers and chanted a demand for immediate housing, and how Beedie is hiding and intimidated by them. There were a couple of other slogans as well, but it was difficult to interpret as the whole process was loud and garbled.
In short, there was no way for the general public to access the information boards or the models through the ring of people. After roughly 30 minutes of this, the project info boards were taken down, and even city staff admitted that things had escalated beyond their expectation. While city security was there, no action was taken against the "protesters." Frankly, if the police had been called it probably would have played into this group's hands, as everything was being taped with phones and even a shoulder camera.
Close to 6:30 things simmered down enough that it was possible for staff to put the boards back up, and even uncover the model, though occasionally someone would high-jack the auditoriums PA system. While this was going on food (from Flotilla) was provided for the open house attendees, though within minutes of it being made available it was gone, with some from the rally out-right dumping the trays of food into their bags.
As for information about the project, I honestly wasn't able to glean much, other than what is already public; There simply wasn't an opportunity for the average person to engage with the city or project staff. If I sound jaded about this experience, it's frankly because I am. This is Vancouver, and people protest here all the time. That is expected, and often healthy, leading to ideas being put forward and projects being improved. However, this instance was not that. My opinion is that this has become a simple intimidation movement that has no concern with what they claim to advocate. I would be horrified if the development board further encourages these people with their horrible tactics by denying this project. Their voices need to be heard, but not at the expense of silencing anyone that disagrees with them. Again, I'm admittedly jaded about this subject, but it really was a surreal experience for an open house, even as a member of the public.
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