Outreach worker Gary Moostoos was harassed by City Centre Mall security while he was eating a bowl of soup in the food court, and given a six-month ban. He shared the incident on Instagram and Facebook and it sparked an outcry. News media picked up the story, and Mayor Iveson expressed disappointment and offered the city's sensitivity training to Oxford Development, the firm that operates the mall.
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| Gary Moostoos shared his experience on his Instagram and Facebook accounts |
One aspect that I find very disturbing is the ban includes a fairly large part of Edmonton downtown's public pedway system, which is a peculiar mix of private and public space, something the owners of the property are aware of, but the public is generally not. That a private property owner can exercise such sweeping powers in what most people perceive to be not just public, but civic space, is of great concern.
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| Oxford's ban is for the area circled in purple, above. |
Gary Moostoos believes his treatment and ban was racially motivated. I hope he pursues this with the Human Rights Commission. And beyond that, I hope the agency he works with, and all of the players in the downtown core, realize they need to work much, much more cooperatively to balance the need for safety and security with the rights - and the needs - of those of us who live, work, and play here.
A story in the Edmonton Sun earlier this year told of a teen who was banned from the mall after he videoed security officers using what many bystanders - outside, gathered at a bus stop - clearly felt was unnecessary force to "arrest" a man for trespassing. One of my teens transfers at this bus stop every day on his way to and from school. The security officers in this instance told bystanders they were not allowed to videotape the incident. They consider the entranceway to the mall, which is on a public sidewalk, part of their property, and they instructed people to move away from that part of the sidewalk entrance and to stop videotaping or face a ban. One woman in the video clip says clearly that she was pushed out of the way.
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| You can view this teen's video and account here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aQiPTx1Em8 |
Our pedway system is an integral part of our downtown. Those are indoor sidewalks, basically, and many thousands of people use them everyday to travel through the downtown. We just heard city council is concerned about spending $10M on better signs. We're being asked to fund extra police officers to the tune of over $15M next year alone, in part to address the influx of people that are expected when the downtown arena is complete.
I have questions: How many people have been banned from Oxford's downtown properties, and how many are aboriginal? Are other property owners issuing similar bans? How many are people of colour? Are our police and sheriffs and transit officers who are part of the downtown patrol involved? How much do we spend on security and policing the downtown core? Is there a coordinating body for downtown security, and if so, how does it operate? Who provides oversight?
We have to get this right, and we have to do it fast. Edmonton is seeing a fast influx of residents into our downtown core. We've been wanting this for 30 years. Are we ready for it?
Jodine: (and this is Lance, not Anonymous!): the mall also claims some of the sidewalk outside. Some of our aboriginal members have been barred for standing on the sidewalk and one was even barred because he was at the bus stop. Such thuggery and illegal behaviors have gone on for far too long. The Gary Moostoos incident should - at least for a while - reduce the amount of bigotry and abuse of power practiced by these rent-a-cops in malls and other places where the public is allegedly welcomed to gather.
ReplyDeleteYes, the outside sidewalk issue is detailed in the Sun coverage and by the teen who took the YouTube video. Take a look at it if you haven't already, Lance, and note that the people who are being arrested, and the people being asked to move off that part of the sidewalk, are also people of colour.
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