More than 1,300 letters were sent to the Calgary Police Commission (CPC) after officers dismantled an encampment at the University of Calgary on May 9.

Commissioners with the CPC heard a debrief on the action from Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld during their May 29, 2024 regular meeting. Before Neufeld’s presentation, however, CPC Chair Shawn Cornett said that they’d heard from citizens in the aftermath.

“We know that there are strong views on this issue, and I want to acknowledge that those voices have been heard,” Cornett said.

“Our Commission has a policy that requires the service to provide a report to us after major policing events so that our commission can assess whether the priorities and policies that guided the response are aligned with the community’s expectations.”

Cornett noted, however, that CPC cannot determine if the events of that day were lawful.

Officers moved in on protesters May 9 who refused to leave late in the evening, despite day-long attempts to persuade them to take down the camp on their own. There’s been substantial controversy over the use of force, including claims of injuries against protesters due to police actions.

The Calgary police said they are cooperating with an ASIRT review of injury claims.

Chief Neufeld gave a detailed account of not only the actions that led to the final response, but protest activities in the weeks leading up to May 9. That included the residual effect of COVID-10 protests, but most notably the more than 100 protests after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.  Crowds have been mostly peaceful, with between 150 and 3,000 people.

“The policing of protest and large-scale events in major cities is a reality for police services in cities,” said Chief Neufeld.

“It’s not something that’s done spontaneously as the CPC is very aware. The function is professionally managed with a structured planning, operations and review and governance functions being well established in our city and in CPS.

“With respect to the U of C situation, there seems to be some sentiment that the U of C called police and in response to some protests or some trespassers, and that the police were essentially flying by the seat of their pants. I can show you here as we go forward that that is not what happened.”

Unpacking the events of May 9

Chief Neufeld said that in these situations, particularly with post-secondary schools, an unclear or non-response from a university is problematic. He said that the University of Calgary was very clear in their expectations – they would allow the protest to go ahead, but there was to be no temporary structures and camping.

He also said that the CPS response didn’t begin at daybreak on May 9. They’d seen some of the activities happening at other Canadian campuses and across North America. They anticipated that something may happen in Calgary and had been in touch with university officials.

“Nobody was surprised that this occurred. It wasn’t a question of whether or not this would happen. It was really just a question of when it would happen,” he said.

After going through a detailed account with commissioners, police Chief Neufeld said it was obvious that at the time they had to move in, they knew it wasn’t a good situation. He commended the officers who stayed throughout the day to try to communicate and negotiate with protesters.

“This is exactly the situation that officers worked throughout the entire day to avoid but the situation was anything but spontaneous and anything but a surprise to the 25 or so people who decided to stay and mix it up with the police,” he said.

Chief Neufeld said that despite media reports, no flash bangs (concussive, disorienting devices) nor rubber bullets were used. However, 15 pepper balls were used and four OC (Oleoresin Capsicum)  grenades (pepper) were deployed.

Following the event, five concerns and one formal complaint were issued through the CPS Professional Standards Section (PSS). None of the reporters indicated they suffered injury, Neufeld said.   He also said they received 47 compliments for the encampment removal.

“This is not about polarity or populism or anything like that. It just shows the divide and the fact that reasonable people can disagree and do in relation to what’s happened here,” he said.

“The issue here was not about protests in any way, shape, or form. The issue here on May ninth was about encampments. So, that needs to be needs to be clearly stated.”

Questions from commissioners

Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong asked what warrants trespassing on public land. Chief Neufeld said that’s a question that was mulled by the incident commanders at the scene.  It lies in the middle of a public space like the municipal plaza in front of city hall and someone’s backyard.

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness also asked about the difference between this protest and the so-called “axe the tax” protests on area highways. Chief Neufeld said when protesters were blocking traffic, police got involved. When the impact on the public is diminished, the tolerance threshold is higher.

“If there was behaviours that started to generate complaints or impact others’ rights, you would see the police engage because it’s public lands. Not private property,” Chief Neufeld said.

Chief Neufeld mentioned during his presentation that there were people ticketed – not charged – for their actions at the protest. None were students or faculty, he said.

Commissioner Heather Campbell said it shouldn’t matter if they were students or faculty.

“That’s irrelevant in my mindset, they’re human and they’re worthy of care,” she said.

“They’re Calgarians, full stop. Doesn’t matter if they were students. My concern is with the proportionality and the necessity, the reasonableness and the legality of the response.”

Commissioner Robert Tanguay asked if the police response would have been warranted if there were no barricades or tents erected at the site.

“I don’t think so,” said Chief Neufeld. He cited in his report that there have been several protests since May 9, some with hundreds of participants. They have gone off without incident.

“Being the police means serving all Calgarians and doing that equitably. Calgarians need to have the confidence that we will do our job to maintain public safety and order regardless of the degree of polarization or pressure that may exist,” he said.  

“Moving forward, we will continue to act definitively to communicate clearly and to enforce the law in a manner respectful of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and also in a way that balances everybody’s rights as well as responsibilities.”

There was an attempt to gather the specific response costs to this action. The CPC members deemed that it wasn’t a major police response, and wouldn’t be costed out separately. They would, however, get a report back on the overall cost of policing protests in Calgary.

Investigation sought over University actions

The Students’ Union at the University of Calgary is calling for an independent investigation after a “police response that turned violent,” requested by UCalgary President Ed McCauley. They said there is precedent for independent investigations after a 2015 probe into an alleged conflict of interest by then-president Elizabeth Cannon.

The students said that the University had called police in before talking with protesters.

“It appears that Ed McCauley and the executive team would love for this to blow over with time, but when students have been injured by their actions, we cannot allow that to pass without accountability,” said SU President Ermia Rezaei-Afsah, in a media statement.

“The university failed to engage with students then and has continually failed since then. That is why we are asking for an independent review. Even if they clear the university of wrongdoing, our community cannot heal without that accountability process.”  

The Students’ Union said that the University’s reputation is faltering, particularly in light of other similar protests ending peacefully when university officials met with protesters. Along with the investigation, the SU wants to know why students were involved with the crisis management team, and a review of policies and procedures being used by university administration.

“The SU had spent years trying to strengthen the relationship between the administration and the students, and we honestly made excellent progress that was starting to pay off as recently as last year,” said Rezaei-Afsah.

“In a day, that’s all gone. We hear it from donors, from parents of students, and most of all from the students themselves. The trust in university officials has shattered.”