There were Grade 12 students from Charles Best Secondary School in Coquitlam on one side of the street, and employees both past and present from The Paramount in New Westminster on the other side of the street.
Both were trying to raise awareness about a petition started by a social justice class at the school – to shut down The Paramount because it objectifies women.
“We just don’t think it’s right, and someone has to do something about it, so that’s what we’re going to do,” said one student.
For employees of The Paramount, which has been open for two decades, they say they support what the students are doing, but feel they need to be more informed of all the issues.
“We support what you are doing but maybe next time have a bit more information before you guys start saying things,” said a manager. “But definitely we support freedom of speech.”
“These girls are intelligent women who are making a choice for themselves that should not be taken away,” said Ashley Pit, an employee of The Paramount.
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Another employee said this movement affects their entire industry, not just The Paramount, and another movement has been started online to show support for the club.
“We’re not the evils in this world,” she said.
The biggest issue appears to be the fact that the school and the students did not contact the club before starting the petition.
Owner Steven Mountford, who has not spoken to Global BC on camera, told us no one contacted him to learn more about his business or his side of the story.
In a message posted on our Facebook page, it reads:
But for teacher Ken Ipe, he said his students are very informed about all the issues.
“We want to challenge our students to think about this in an objective way,” he said. “Well the criticism is, people say ‘be informed’. Well we’ve done our due diligence here that’s for sure.”
“We know the issues.”
So what are the issues?
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