Langford mayor to throw good money after bad: Why Stewart Young wants to sue penniless protestors for the cost of a huge police raid he ordered
by Zoe Blunt
Two weeks after he called in a massive military-style strike against a handful of sleeping campers, Langford Mayor Stewart Young has got the bill, and it's a doozy.

 

According to today's Victoria Times Colonist, Young says that the final tally is still being worked out, but Langford's share of the operation will be over $100,000. The rest of the cost goes to provincial taxpayers.

 

Young apparently signed a blank cheque on the taxpayer's account when he called in a small army of police to the site of the controversial Bear Mountain Interchange on February 13. Over fifty RCMP officers, many with assault rifles pointed at protestors, stormed the camp in the pre-dawn hours and evicted five people. Two were charged with mischief. Two others were charged later for stopping construction equipment.

Now Young is threatening to sue those involved with the protest for the cost of the raid. Not only that, he is threatening to sue me in particular – and I haven't committed any crime. I was not arrested, charged, detained, or even questioned about any alleged illegal activity. But I am guilty of disagreeing with Mayor Young's sickening development ambitions, so he's threatening to SLAPP me - with a strategic lawsuit against public participation.

Young's police raid racked up well over $100,000 in bills to taxpayers this month. A lawsuit could cost twice that, and it is not likely to be successful. Such a lawsuit by a municipality is almost unprecedented.

Add those taxpayer costs to the $25 million that Langford council is attempting to borrow on behalf of the Bear Mountain developers, and here's the bottom line: Stewart Young is reckless and irresponsible with other people's money. His hugely expensive police attack was far out of proportion to any possible threat the campers posed, and now he thinks he can get the money back by suing people who have no assets. In my opinion, Young is unfit to run a lemonade stand, let alone hold public office.

On the morning of the police raid on the tree sit camp, RCMP officers were brought in from as far away as Surrey and Nanaimo for the overkill operation, which left two Langford neighbourhoods behind police lines for three days. Dozens of residents were detained by police every time they entered or left their street. One officer who would not give his name told a protestor there were 300 police involved in the raid and the three days of RCMP roadblocks and 24-hour checkpoints on both sides of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Young's police adventure and his legal threats violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is still the law of the land – even in Langford.


Times Colonist story.


Background: Bear Mountain Tree Sit
http://treesit.blogspot.com

--
ZoeBlunt@gmail.com

Name

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment