Calgary city councillor apologizes to BIPOC communities over BLM-freedom rally comparison

Participants in a 'freedom' rally on 17th Avenue S.W. on March 12, 2022. CEMA has included civil disobedience on its list of 16 potential high risk disasters for the city.

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness has issued an apology for equating the Black Lives Matter movement with the freedom rallies.

Wyness had suggested on Twitter that city council should adopt a multi-lateral dialogue approach in an attempt to resolve the ongoing conflicts between organizers of the weekly rallies in the Beltline and neighbourhood residents and business owners.

In her March 14 Twitter thread, the councillor had said the public hearing would be "similar to what was offered to BLM protesters."

Council hosted a two-day public hearing in July 2020 on the issue of systemic racism in Calgary. Participants in the hearing, which was conducted via video conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were given time to share their experiences with injustice and trauma in the city and also suggest ways to improve inclusivity.

Wyness expressed her regret for the freedom rally-BLM parallels in a statement issued Wednesday night.

"I would like to recognize the impact of my tweets from Monday, and to apologize to Calgary's BIPOC communities. My intent was not to create a comparison between the ongoing "freedom" gatherings in the Beltline with the anti-racism protests that occurred over the summer of 2020."

The Ward 2 councillor adds she "wholeheartedly denounces all forms of racism, discrimination, prejudice and white supremacy."

Wyness says she remains focused on working with community members to "find ways to resolve the conflict in the Beltline" and identifying "a safe path forward for council to diffuse frustrations fueling the conflict of our streets."

Many Beltline residents have expressed their frustrations with the noise and traffic problems that accompany the weekly protests.

Tempers flared last weekend when a group of rally opponents gathered along a section of 17th Avenue S.W, in an attempt to block the freedom march.  The two sides stood in opposition, with CPS members standing between the groups, for more than an hour before officers forcibly dispersed the smaller group, with some police members utilizing the handlebars of their mountain bikes as a battering ram.