\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood)<\/p>\n The proposed bylaw sought to ban \u201cnuisance\u201d protests and intimidation within 100 metres of schools, places of worship, hospitals and other \u201cvulnerable social\u201d locations. But the controversial plan prompted outcry from critics who worried it would amount to a violation of the charter right to peaceful protest.<\/p>\n Duncan said that was never his intention.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important in this process that the community is heard, and I think that\u2019s what has happened here. I think there\u2019s a lot of misinformation out there right now about what this proposal was going to cover. At no point in time was it ever my intention to ban peaceful protests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He suggested federal hate speech legislation, including Bill C9, may be broad enough to cover off the concerns he sought to address in the bylaw.<\/p>\n The proposed bylaw, which was recommended by the municipal public service based on Duncan\u2019s motion, is set to be discussed at an executive policy committee meeting Tuesday. Prior to Duncan\u2019s reversal, the proposed bylaw had been backed by the mayor and headed to a city council vote on Feb. 26.<\/p>\n Instead, Duncan said he will ask for the proposed bylaw and its accompanying report to be received as information only. More than 100 people \u2014 the majority of whom oppose the bylaw \u2014 are registered to speak during public delegations at Tuesday\u2019s meeting. Those delegations are still expected to proceed, Duncan said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe intention was to focus on intimidation and creating safe spaces for all Winnipeggers. That\u2019s the simplest way to put it, and I\u2019ve done my best to communicate that to everyone who\u2019s emailed me,\u201d he said, adding some are still spreading \u201cmisinformation\u201d about the intent of the bylaw.<\/p>\n \u201cCompletely false information, but it\u2019s grown legs and now it\u2019s running, and I don\u2019t want to move forward with something unless the community understands what exactly it is and who exactly stands to benefit from it \u2014 and those people, in my mind, first and foremost, are children, seniors frequenting health-care facilities and people going to places of worship,\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was my focus with this, and unfortunately, that is not what has been widely communicated by those that clearly haven\u2019t read the report.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t A rally in opposition to the proposal is still planned to go ahead \u201cdespite Duncan\u2019s walk-back\u201d outside city hall Tuesday, organized by community groups who have called the proposed bylaw anti-democratic.<\/p>\n Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said it\u2019s critical for members of the public to have their voices heard on this issue. She issued an open letter Monday following Duncan\u2019s comments, writing: \u201cThis is not good governance. It is agenda chaos. These questions go to the heart of public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n Rollins said the public should still have questions about why city hall was, without meaningful public engagement, \u201cprepared to quickly enact one of the broadest safe access bylaws in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis should not be the public\u2019s last word. The public should be standing up, not sitting down at this time,\u201d Rollins said.<\/p>\n As of last Friday, there were 119 individuals registered to speak in opposition to the proposed bylaw and two people registered to speak in support of it at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
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