Brandon pauses public engagement on 30-year vision over 'inappropriate and unsafe behaviour'
The City of Brandon has paused public engagement on its 30-year plan for the city due to what it calls 'inappropriate and unsafe behaviour' from some residents.
The issues came after two public engagement events the city held to discuss the Brandon City Plan which outlines a 30-year vision for the city.
"A small group of citizens used these events to discuss theories not related to the Brandon City Plan project and city staff were treated disrespectfully," a statement from the city reads.
"Democracy and freedom of speech is important to the City of Brandon. However, due to such inappropriate and unsafe behaviour, all Brandon City Plan public engagement has been paused."
Ron Bowles, Brandon's city manager, told CTV News the group of residents that came to the meeting was 'loud and boisterous' and made the staff members feel emotionally unsafe.
"It was an unfair situation for our staff, there was only two staff members in attendance at the meeting and the group was a little bit aggressive," he said.
Resident Rick Macl said he went to the meeting on Friday to bring forward his concerns about the city plan.
"I really don't understand where they're getting that from, like, I honestly don't," he said. "Obviously, it was disorganized, and when you have a whole bunch of people talking at the same time, it gets frustrating."
He posted a video of the meeting on his Facebook page, which shows at times a group of residents all asking questions over each other—many surrounding the idea of '15-minute cities'.
The city planning term suggests everything a resident needs should be within a 15-minute walk or cycle from their home, but the idea has been caught up in conspiracies theories.
Grant Hamilton, founder of a cycling advocacy group Bike Brandon, said they also had to postpone their public engagement sessions about the city plan, which looks to support more cycling and safer access to bike lanes.
He said it is an issue that has been caught up in conspiracy theories in Brandon.
"The people who are passionate about these conspiracy theories tend to also be disruptive, and they had started coming to some of the larger city open houses to talk about the city plan and were disrupting those," he said.
"In discussions, we didn't feel like we could provide a safe inclusive event for people at Bike Brandon. So we unfortunately had to make the call that we were going to cancel our event."
Macl said he feels the city is blowing the situation out of proportion. He said he, along with some other residents at the meeting, felt the city staff were unprepared to answer questions about the plan.
Hamilton, however, said he believes the majority of people in Brandon support the plan.
"I think you'll always have to be prepared for maybe a little bit of controversy, or maybe some people who don't 100 per cent agree with you," he said. "As long as you're respectful about that, there's no problem."
Bowles said the city paused its public engagement to evaluate how best to have conversations with the community.
"We wanted to make sure that going forward, that we have good conversations for our community and have conversations in a safe space for our staff as well," he said, adding there were legitimate questions brought up in the meeting.
Macl said he feels there may be some good that comes out of this.
"I think this is going to open up the conversation, I think this is going to get the city, you know, prepared to basically talk further and in detail of what this is actually is and what it's involving," he said.
The city said it will provide updates on the next steps in the city plan in the future.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
LIVE B.C. seeks ban on using drugs in 'all public spaces,' shifting approach to decriminalization
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in "all public spaces," marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
Air traveller complaints to Canadian Transportation Agency hit new high
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
AFN chief says Air Canada offered a 15% discount after her headdress was mishandled
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid says he has Bell's palsy
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
DEVELOPING Bird flu outbreaks: WHO weighs in on public health risk
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Island near Mull of Kintyre for sale for US$3.1 million
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.