The first thing that caught my eye after I parked my car south of Calgary’s city hall to cover the Sean Chu protest, was a billowing black plume of smoke straight north of me..My first thought was that some lunatic had set off a bomb..I ran as fast as my middle-aged body would allow to try and get to the scene and find out what was happening. I arrived wheezing and gasping at the intersection of Macleod Trail and 6 Ave. just in time to see the Calgary fire department putting out a blazing SUV in the middle of the intersection. Police cars were flying up and down the roads in all directions with sirens blaring.. suvA automobile burning nearby Calgary City Hall (Image Source: Cory Morgan for Western Standard) .It turns out, somebody had pulled up, parked the SUV, set it on fire, and ran. Police arrested somebody shortly afterward. As far as I could ascertain, it had nothing to do with the pro and anti-Sean Chu rallies that I was actually down there to cover, so I moved on..My day was off to an odd start, and it didn’t get any better as the rallies developed..I first checked in at city hall where the anti-Sean Chu demonstration was to be held. I was early and little was happening yet. A handful of organizers were milling about and I saw plastic bags full of sidewalk chalk at their feet. When you see the sidewalk chalk, you know it’s going to be a progressive barn burner..I crossed the street to Olympic Plaza where the pro-Sean Chu forces were rallying. Organizers were having trouble with their sound system. Apparently, they couldn’t get a rally permit from the city, and so couldn’t get direct power for their amplifiers. Many people were arriving, predominantly from the Asian community, and they were offered signs to display. Instructions were being read out from a portable loudspeaker in several languages. The plaza itself was treacherously icy, causing attendees to stand quite a distance from the speakers on the stage area. The atmosphere was a bit chaotic, but the attendees tended to be peaceful and calm..The homeless people who reside within Olympic Plaza were none too impressed with this disruption to their Sunday morning. A clearly inebriated gentleman in a bathrobe approached the main organizer’s table, grabbed the hand sanitizer bottles, and smashed them on the ground. Their surprise that this could happen leads me to think the event organizers haven’t spent much time downtown lately. This sort of experience with Calgary’s street people is par for the course these days.. Screen-ShA homeless man not pleased to see pro-Chu protestors at Olympic Plaza. (Image Source: Cory Morgan for Western Standard) .He told someone else from the Western Standard that he was actually an engineer..The man then grabbed a microphone away from a Global News reporter and offered an expletive-laden, incoherent rant to their camera until a nearby police officer called him away. I suspect the footage will not have made the evening news..Eventually, roughly two hundred pro-Sean Chu supporters were assembled. After a few false starts in getting O’Canada going, the speakers began.. chussPro-Chu protestors at Olympic Plaza (Image Source: Cory Morgan for Western Standard) .A number of people from Chu’s ward took to the microphone and expressed their support for his remaining in office. They related personal stories of their interactions with him as a councillor and said they had been well served by him..Their arguments mostly boiled down to pointing out that the Chu incident was settled decades ago, he had been disciplined appropriately, and it was time to move on. It was a polite and sedate affair..I then crossed the street again to check out the anti-Chu gathering.. plazaAnti-Chu protestors at Calgary City Hall (Image Source: Cory Morgan for Western Standard) .The sidewalk chalk was being liberally applied and an Albertan flag decorated with a Black Lives Matter symbol was on display. What BLM had to do with the Chu controversy, I can only guess..As I walked among the gathering crowd in my Western Standard jacket, a number of people expressed their desire to see me go copulate myself (paraphrasing.) I found their expression to be gratifying. While they were not big fans of the Western Standard or myself, they clearly followed us closely. As the humble publication has reached its second anniversary, to have earned such recognition and vitriol from Calgary’s extreme left is quite an accomplishment. It usually takes much longer to earn such fear and loathing. As long as they keep reading, our advertisers are happy..Not interested in self-fornication at this time, I wandered back to see how the pro-Chu event was coming along. Their speakers were wrapped up and they were preparing to parade in front of the anti-Chu demonstrators. I had been joined by the Western Standard’s James Finkbeiner and we rushed out to set up on the street to see how well the parade would be received..As we set up our camera, we could hear Black Lives Matter activist Taylor McNallie ranting at the microphone about the evils of white people. We chuckled. I covered it when McNallie disrupted Dr. Joe Vipond’s pro-lockdown rallies last summer as she refused to mask up and delivered an obscenity-laced tirade to his gathered supporters. I could see the attendees in the anti-Chu crowd beginning to squirm uncomfortably as McNallie raged on and on about how all cops are bastards and white supremacists. It had nothing to do with the point of the rally, and I am certain Sean Chu would make a terrible white supremacist. No woke demonstrator is going to dare to interrupt a person of color as she speaks, however..The appearance of the pro-Chu parade allowed elements of the crowd to break away from McNallie’s tirade. I am certain that some in the anti-Chu camp saw this distraction as a blessing. Police officers lined Macleod Tr. and kept the opposing protesters to each side of the street. Pro-Chu supporters marched and waved signs while the anti-Chu demonstrators screamed Chu was a child rapist while berating police officers as being pigs among other things. The patience shown by officers as they dealt with the barrage of hatred from the belligerent extremists in the anti-Chu crowd was impressive..Eventually, most of the attendees on both sides of the street tired of shouting and waving signs at each other. All of the pro-Chu demonstrators dispersed and the majority of the anti-Chu demonstrators left. The fun wasn’t quite over yet though. The next act of this circus was just about to begin..Street preacher Art Pawlowski began setting up his weekly luncheon for the homeless next to Olympic Plaza. As his supporters set up a crucifix and a Jesus Saves banner along with food tables, the remaining anti-Chu protesters went wild. They resumed their screaming with most of it involving calling Pawlowski a white supremacist. Police again had to intervene as the lineup of homeless people (mostly non-white) began to get upset with the protesters. Whatever one may think of Pawlowski, he feeds a lot of vulnerable people downtown and they appreciate him for it. While the anti-Chu protesters may claim to hate the police, it was the Calgary police force that saved them from likely being terribly beaten by some of the more animated homeless people..Pawlowski always has music playing at his lunch line. The anti-Chu protesters believe that some hip-hop was in order to drown him out. Things were almost surreal as gangster rap blared from across the street and the remaining protesters began suggestively twerking at the folks assembled at the street church. Some began lifting their shirts and flashing their breasts when they failed to draw enough attention with their dancing. It was an unintentionally entertaining spectacle that I won’t soon forget.. Screen-Sh001-1Anti-Chu protestors dance and strip their clothes off (Image Source: Cory Morgan for Western Standard) .People gathered to defend young women from sexual predation twerking to gangster rap known for normalizing the objectification and abuse of women was a creative combination. The anti-Chu gang appeared blissfully unaware of the irony..I had seen enough by then and made my way home..I can’t write seriously about these protesters because they aren’t serious people. Right or wrong, the pro-Chu side made their case calmly and went home. The anti-Chu side was made up of the usual suspects you find at every lefty protest. They are angry, confused, and obscene. There are some serious concerns to be discussed regarding Chu’s time on the police force and the police response to it. That discussion should take place with facts, evidence, and testimony. No serious discourse was to be found at the protests though..There were about four hundred people gathered to demand the resignation of Sean Chu. I had expected more on a nice sunny day considering the rage demonstrated on Twitter. I should have known better than think online outrage reflects people in the real world. Despite paid advertising for the rally on the part of the union-funded Calgarians for a Progressive Future, they couldn’t draw average Calgarians out to their rally in any significant numbers..The Western Standard the day before published an exclusive story indicating the person who had been accusing Chu of impropriety was found to be not consistent or believable by investigators, by the presiding (female) inspector. Perhaps that has inspired concerned Calgarians to sit back on this issue and wait until the full story comes out. It’s clear we don’t know all the facts yet. Chu should by no means be let off the hook yet, but allegations this serious deserve to be taken with seriousness demanding evidence..Chu is going to be sworn in as the Ward 4 councilor on Monday no matter what Calgary’s organized progressives may think. Chu was found to have broken no laws and there is no legal mechanism for blocking him from taking the role he was elected to. Protests can be effective tools for people to express opposition to things and they often make decision-makers think twice on issues. The anti-Chu protesters didn’t indicate any kind of groundswell of opposition to the swearing-in of Chu as a city councillor..We need to be patient and watch for the full story to unfold. Perhaps Premier Jason Kenney will get around to proclaiming his promised recall legislation into active law one day, and people will be able to start petitioning to have Chu removed from office. Until then, it’s time to let Chu get on with his role as the elected councillor for Ward 4, and for the media to continue to unearth evidence that can decide his fitness for office one way or another..Cory Morgan is the Alberta Political Columnist for the Western Standard and Host of the Cory Morgan Show
