Conflict in the Red Zone

Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. By most standards, a moderately sized town. In Canada, it ranks 37th in terms of populated metropolitan cities and 5th in the Province of British Columbia. With four major business districts and several bedroom communities it is an agricultural, resource extraction, resource processing, industrial and service centre for an expansive area of BC's southern interior. It's a hard-working town. It is also a cultural centre which supports live theatre, major sporting events, concert entertainment, film festivals and a wide array of outdoor pursuits. It even gathers in moments of international fame with images of Jesus appearing on baking sheets.

There are two "downtowns" separated by the Thompson River. The financial district and seat of civic government reside on the south side of the river.

Before you rush off to go read something more interesting and international in nature, understand that this is less about Kamloops, BC, Canada, and more about the intolerant and allegedly illegal behaviour of some of its residents. Because as quiet as Kamloops may appear, it is a city and it comes with all the problems associated with any other city, anywhere in the world. It has its seedy side. And in Kamloops, it's called The Red Zone.

The Red Zone was established after Kamloops north shore businesses decided they had taken enough of the crime associated with drug-dealing and prostitution. A boundary was established in the north shore business district and the city police, along with a citizens' patrol, went to work trying to reclaim that area. The police carried out an operation which rounded up much of the criminal element and, by court order, those people were forbidden to occupy that area, particularly at night. When they arrested several women engaged in prostitution, all of whom were ordered by a judge to stay out of the area, some people made their objections known. They also stated their intentions to establish a legitimate and visible protest. That raised a few hackles.

The counter protest, mostly from business owners, suggests that the problem is being dealt with effectively. Nothing could be further from the truth. While they may enjoy a level of comfort having the women moved out of the area, someone or somewhere else is receiving them. The establishment of a Red Zone has not eliminated prostitution. In fact, it is a hydraulic effect. The actions of the police and business owners have had the effect of pushing the women, and the crime that follows them, into an area of less pressure. That's what happens, in Kamloops, in Topeka, in London, in Montreal and in San Diego.

You might call it selfish on the part of the business owners, but that would be another issue.

The first issue is that the establishment of the Red Zone and the prohibitions imposed would be unlikely to survive a "charter challenge". The implementers of the idea probably know that, but they also know the people they are banning from an area of the city are not likely to mount such a challenge and, unless they do so, the ban can be imposed at will. The banned are poor, drug-addicted, social outcasts. Social programs to help, particularly the prostitutes, are poor at best. Even the business owners complain that programs to actually solve the problems of the area are ineffective.

[Betty] Nelson doesn’t have much good to say about programs now being offered to help prostitutes leave the sex trade.

She said a couple of workshops, or an outreach worker giving them condoms and clean needles, aren’t enough.

“They’re not getting out [of the sex trade] with the programs that are out there, except for the House of Ruth.

“The others just don’t get it. They don’t know what these girls need to get out.”

But is Nelson demanding that local, provincial and federal government develop programs be implemented? No, she has a different solution.

In Nelson’s opinion, the best way is to continue the arrests and bring the women before judges who are willing to impose conditions requiring them to enter long-term programming get in-depth help.

“They need help and they won’t get it on the street.”

Which begs the question: Has Nelson ever sat in a courtroom to see what actually happens? The bottom line is jail. And while Nelson's public comments seem to suggest she would like to see the women get some help, one can't help but think that jailing them would suit her just as well. The programs Nelson alludes to simply don't exist or have had funding cut by provincial and federal governments.

Others have added their view:

I support programs to help women in distress. Some prostitutes don’t want help. They seem quite happy with their lifestyle and don’t want any interference.

What programs? Name a few. And to presume that these women approach anything close to happiness is akin to wishing for ponies.

By Saturday, things had started to boil up. The Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre organized a march to protest the establishment of the Red Zone, something they saw as forcing prostitutes into the back alleys of the north shore. They advised both the city and the North Shore Business Improvement Association of their intention to engage in a legal, peaceful civil protest. What happened next was.... very un-Canadian indeed.

Shortly after the march began at Cowboy Coffee, [John Woolner] parked his truck in the business’ parking lot and confronted the group of marchers as they approached.

Woolner started yelling at the black-clad group of women. He demanded they leave.

Right. He's a male. A simple command to depart should have been enough... right? They are, after all, women. If the males in their life aren't exercising control over their women, he'll do it.

Yelling at them to leave, he grabbed the wrist of Cynthia Davis, agency co-ordinator for the Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre. He twisted it to the point she ended up on her knees. He later left the march area and walked up the road a bit, but returned, yelling at the women that, if they want to help prostitutes, “adopt one.”

That, of course, is an assault as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada.

Woolner had clearly lost control of himself and when I first read this I couldn't help but wonder: If this is the way he treated someone with whom he was only vaguely acquainted, how did he treat those women he knows?

Woolner's reaction also suggests that he knows the Red Zone is established on the flimsiest of legal ground. A small protest was the thin edge of the wedge. The Red Zone was clearly in jeopardy. But then this:

[Davis] said many women, including those who witnessed the incident and others who heard about it, have urged her to lay charges. Davis said she’s still considering her options but at the least, she plans to make a statement to police for information purposes only.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!

A citizen can lay a charge in Canada, but it means swearing information before a Justice of the Peace. Charges in Canada are laid by the police and attorneys-general. The police don't need a statement by Davis to initiate an investigation. They don't need her statement to lay a charge, although a judge would have difficulty should she choose not to testify.

In fact, if Davis wants to see the Red Zone ended, she should be swearing out a complaint against Woolner - for several reasons, but I'll stick with one.

If Woolner did commit the assault described above, it should be investigated. If an investigation produces evidence enough to support a charge of assault, he should be charged accordingly and brought before the courts to answer. If found guilty he should be sentenced appropriately - and he should be banned, by court order, from the Kamloops Red Zone.

Kamloops’ top cop Supt. Jim Begley has made clear during several public meetings that the red zone designation is not designed solely for the city’s sex trade workers.

Exactly, and it should include those who intentionally commit assaults on those engaged in legitimate and legal protests. Sentencing includes protection of the public and that would suggest, since this Red Zone exists, that a person committing such assaults should not be permitted to occupy that zone.

Then how long do you think it would take to mount a Supreme Court challenge on The Red Zone?

Hell, it might even wake up this worthless piece of shit.