Southwest BRT meetings still cancelled despite no charges, says Nenshi
Charges investigated following yelling, swearing, pushing, shoving at southwest bus rapid transit line meeting
Calgary police say there are no charges pending against members of a group who oppose the southwest bus rapid transit project after rowdy public meetings since last fall.
Voices were raised and threats were allegedly made at a meeting Feb. 23 on the proposed 22-kilometre bus route from Woodbine to the downtown core that's designed to ease pressure from LRT.
The following day, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi called a news conference saying he was "extraordinarily disappointed" at the behaviour of a fringe group of 10 to 15 people.
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He said members of Ready to Engage, a group opposed to the project, made city staff feel unsafe.
"There was yelling, there was swearing, there was pushing and shoving, there were incidents of physical assaults on city staff, there were threats of violence and yes, there was a death threat," Nenshi said.
The mayor also concluded the news conference saying the incident was under investigation to determine whether charges should be laid.
Calgary police announced Thursday there is not enough evidence to warrant charges.
"I don't think the police said nothing bad happened," Nenshi said in response.
"I think they said nothing criminal happened. And if your bar is, it is OK to yell at people, it is OK to threaten them, it is OK to abuse them but as long as you don't get a charge that is OK, I would suggest that is not the right bar."
He said the group has yet to acknowledge their role in the breakdown of that meeting.
"The people who have made such a big stink about this haven't once said, we will do anything differently. They haven't once said, actually we will be more respectful."
Nenshi added public engagement will continue but in an online environment. The previously cancelled public meetings will not be rescheduled.
Alan Hallman, a Ready to Engage spokesperson, says they are happy with the police decision.
"We saw that there wasn't going to be any charges, and we were obviously thrilled with that," Hallman said.
"There was nobody within our organization that was even so much as questioned by the police."
He places the blame directly on the city for the failed engagement process, saying the city invited thousands of residents to a venue that could only hold a few hundred and did not equip city staff to answer obvious questions from concerned residents.
"People in our organization are simply concerned citizens that want to have a say in what is going on in the community that they brought their children up in," Hallman said.
"This mayor is cranking it up once again. We are giving him a legitimate out. Mayor, say you are sorry and we will forgot all of this."
Nenshi said the door is still open but he's not optimistic.
"Certainly if there is an opportunity to have a more thoughtful, engaged conversation we could have that discussion, but the Ready to Engage people have not once admitted that they have done anything wrong, so I would just have to assume that they would do all the same things again," Nenshi said.
"That is not acceptable."
Critics of the project may have had more ammunition Tuesday when Nenshi acknowledged the price tag could be more than $40 million including about $26 million from the province.
He said a tighter estimate would be available in the spring as design work is completed.
With files from Evelyne Asselin