The Provincial Capital Commission (PCC) said in a statement that they have now requested the Regina Police Service (RPS) enforce the law and remove a protest camp in Wascana Park three times.
The PCC said the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp is violating bylaws surrounding overnight camping, building structures and burning wood or other combustibles.
The PCC said the above bylaws are in place to ensure the safety of everyone who uses the park.
Regina’s Canada Day Committee announced Tuesday they are moving Canada Day festivities to the north side of Wascana Lake. That release made no mention of the camp.
READ MORE: Indigenous protest camp to meet with ministers after Canada Day
Events being moved include the performance stage and pancake breakfast. Events such as Western Canada’s Strongest Man and the Plywood Cup will run in their usual locations, the Legislative Building parking lot and west side of the lake respectively.
On Wednesday, the PCC said the move is because of the camp. Eight teepees are currently set up where a number of Canada Day events usually take place.
“It is disappointing that last minute changes are necessary to an event that requires year-round planning because of an unpermitted and illegal protest,” PCC executive director Carrie Ross said.
“We have bylaws and permits in place to ensure Wascana Park is available for everyone to use in a safe manner, and we are again asking the Regina Police Service to enforce the law.”
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Hours before this government press release was published, RPS Chief Evan Bray spoke with media at the monthly Board of Police Commissioners meeting about the growing camp.
READ MORE: Police shut down Justice for our Stolen Children protest
Bray said the situation is a challenge and the RPS are in regular contact with the provincial government and protestors about the situation. At this point, the police will not be removing the camp.
“So right now our focus is community safety. We don’t feel a police response at this point, especially knowing that there’s a meeting and a discussion planned in under a week from now, that a police response would do anything to help that,” Bray said.
“We assess it multiple times a day. We make sure that there’s no risk to the public, which at this point we don’t feel that there is, so our response right now is to let that discussion happen and ultimately hope for a peaceful resolution.”
The camp was originally removed on June 18. Since June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, eight teepees have been erected.
Members of the camp are scheduled to meet with five cabinet ministers in Fort Qu’Appelle July 2. Concerns of systemic racism in justice, social services and other government institutions are expected to be discussed.
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Bray is hopeful that meeting will yield a peaceful resolution to the camp’s concerns.
If the camp remains after July 2, Bray does not want to put a timestamp on whether or not police will intervene again.
“I know from history of policing in Canada and the history of my time at the Regina Police Service, once you start forcing something you might get action. You might be able to clear protestors out of the park or you might be able to visually resolve something,” he said. “We can make all the arrests in the world in regards to robberies, but unless you can dig into the root cause it’s not going to go away.”
City Councillor and Board of Police Commissioners member Joel Murray took to Twitter Wednesday afternoon to voice his support for the RPS stance.
A statement issued by the camp said that this move from the PCC seems to show the government is entering into the July 2 talks in bad faith. The camp accuses the PCC of trying to use the media and public to pressure the police to take the camp down.
The camp also said that they were told by Canada Day organizers over a month ago that they were willing to move the festivities to the north side of the lake to accommodate the camp.
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