Pubdate: Sat, 16 Apr 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Matt Robinson
Page: A4

ANNUAL 4/20 POT PROTEST SET TO PROCEED AT SUNSET BEACH

The Vancouver park board does not endorse this event. They don't
sanction the event, it's un-permitted.

Vancouver's Sunset Beach is set to get a whole lot greener Wednesday
with marijuana activists planning a smoke out at the park for the
annual 4/20 pot protest.

City staff told activists to find a new venue after last year's
protest at the Vancouver Art Gallery drew tens of thousands of
smokers, but the park board rankled at their suggestion of a beach
venue, where city bylaws prohibit smoking. While the Non-Partisan
Association-led park board made political hay of the move and
continues to worry about its financial impact, head 4/20 organizer
Jeremiah Vandermeer said park staff have been meeting with him
regularly to make sure the protest goes smoothly.

"Because of the grey area that marijuana is currently in, it's
politically difficult for anybody to accept full responsibility for
what happens down there," Vandermeer said in an interview Friday.

"They can't come out and say they support us 100 per cent and that
we're permitted, but we do everything we can in working with them -
just like every permitted event would - and the reason is because we
want to make it as safe as possible for everyone."

Vandermeer said he and others on his team have been meeting weekly and
monthly with "every single person that you can possibly imagine with
the park board," from rangers to groundskeepers. They've also been
working with the city manager's office, police and other emergency
responders, he said.

Some of that diligence comes from a desire to avoid any repeat of the
conflict that broke out between police and activists during last
year's July 1 Cannabis Day protest, Vandermeer said. "It was something
that we don't want to ever have happen again," he said.

Vandermeer said it has been more difficult to plan for the Sunset
Beach site because it's so much larger, but added that the extra space
will make it safer.

In recent years the 4/20 event has come to resemble a marijuana
farmer's market and craft fair, and this one is no different.

"This is a protest and we're there protesting bad laws that we want
changed," Vandermeer said. "The farmer's market and all the stuff that
happens down there is part of our protest and it provides an example
of the way things could be in a different world."

The protest site will sprawl along 250 metres of seawall at the mouth
of False Creek and will include around 400 vendor booths, Vandermeer
said. About a quarter of the booths will be positioned on the beach's
sandy outcroppings, with the remainder lined up on the parking lot and
a nearby field. A single stage will dominate the protest site's
northwest end.

About 200 tables have already been booked at a cost to vendors of $300
apiece. That cash goes toward the roughly $100,000 organizers are
spending on the protest. About half of that cash goes to the stage and
the remainder goes to things "mostly put on us by the city,"
Vandermeer said. That includes two-way radios to communicate with
first responders, a rental ambulance, a medical team and security team.

But organizers and the park board are clashing over costs. While
Vandermeer claimed protesters are paying for everything any other
event would - with the exception of a permit - Sarah Kirby-Yung, the
head of the park board, disagrees.

"There's a lot of city costs and resources that need to be put into
this =C2=85 you've got Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services costs, you've g
ot
Vancouver Police Department costs, you've got street and sanitation
and traffic management, and that doesn't account for the additional
park board staff and resources that we're dedicating. We're putting
lifeguards on, we're going to have park rangers near the seawall.
There's a significant number of impacts," she said, noting that the
city incurred nearly $100,000 in direct costs for last year's protest.
"I think it's fair to say that we don't see eye-to-eye."

An unexpected impact of the move to Sunset Beach has come with a
decision by the park board to shut down the Vancouver Aquatic Centre
Wednesday over concerns it would fill with smoke.

"We would be operating air intake fans to bring in fresh air and
outside, 25,000 to 30,000 people will be lighting up and smoking
marijuana," Kirby-Yung said. "I don't think it would be pleasant or
healthy."

About 1,000 people a day use the aquatic centre, including children
and seniors with breathing difficulties. With tens of thousands of
people rallying outside the facility, getting in and out would be a
challenge.

"The Vancouver park board does not endorse this event. They don't
sanction the event, it's un-permitted, and we don't think Sunset Beach
is an appropriate location," Kirby-Yung said.

"Having said that, the event is happening and so the focus right now
has been on working very constructively with our colleagues =C2=85 to try

to ensure a safe event on the day."

When asked if park staff would be ticketing for smoking violations,
Kirby-Yung said the park board would look to VPD and follow their
lead. Const. Brian Montague, a VPD spokesman, would not disclose plans
for policing for Wednesday's event. VPD have monitored 4/20 protests
for 20 years, he said, adding that last year's event cost police about
$50,000.

During last year's protest at the art gallery, dozens of people were
sent to hospital for medical treatment.

- - With a file from Wendy McLellan
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt