Update:
Vancouver city staff consulted Chinese government over bylaw to silence Falun Gong
Joseph Arvay, a lawyer representing a group of the Falun Gong practitioners, called the city's proposal "shocking."
"It's faulty in one very, very fundamental respect: It excludes the Chinese consulate from any protests, by physical structure," he said. "After all these years in which the Falun Gong challenged the city for absolutely prohibiting its protest in front of the Chinese consulate, and even though the court struck down the city's bylaw, the city continues to absolutely prohibit the Falun Gong from its protests outside the Chinese consulate. The city's just asking for another lawsuit." More at Vancouver Sun
Now NPA city councillor Suzanne Anton is also taking aim at the Vision Vancouver-dominated council's late-distribution report on political expression.
"An extremely controversial report is being slipped in at the last minute without allowing for any meaningful public discussion," Anton states in the release. "This has become a regular pattern with the Mayor and his caucus colleagues. Freedom of expression is fundamental to democracy. Any possible restriction on that freedom must be well-understood and properly debated. Two days notice is not enough."
After Falun Gong practitioner Sue Zhang and others went to the B.C. Supreme Court, the court ruled in favour of the city in 2009.
The B.C. Court of Appeal subsequently ruled in favour of the practitioners.
More at Straight.com
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