Friday August 24 2012: Gordo catches Assiniboine Park bullying independent artist; desperate management backtracks

Summary: Winnipeg Free Press columnist Gordon Sinclair Jr. used a simple technique to prove that the Conservancy model now running Assiniboine Park was using intimidation to bully blogger and noted local artist Graham Hnatiuk: He asked for a copy of their "policy" for buskers. Considering that when Hnatiuk was given the bum's rush by Winnipeg police, at the behest of Park rent-a-cops two weeks ago, he was told the chalk artist hadn't gotten a permit as required under the policy, it should have been pretty simple to give to Gordo. Except, there was no policy, there are no such permits, and the Park - and the officer who confronted the offending chalk artist  - was caught lying that the Crown Jewel of local green space was now "Private Property" being defaced by Hnatiuk's thoughtful drawings on the sidewalk by the footbridge. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/the-private-park-and-the-public-artist-167293235.html Considering his work had been complimented by Park officials last year, and was the inspiration for the kick-off for the Conservancy's $200 Million dollar fundraising campaign, the tactics used to confront Hnatiuk and threaten him with all sorts of criminal charges for daring to continue, belies a bigger problem with the attitude to the people who use the Park: the attitude of entitlement and elitism. (A park) spokesman initially told me in reference to Hnatiuk that panhandling is illegal. Then acknowledged panhandling is legal, but said Hnatiuk was busking and that was against "established" conservancy policy. When pressed to produce the policy on busking, the spokesman backed off, saying "a specific busking policy, busking is really something we haven't had to address up to this point..." What the incident exposes is an attitude exemplified by what park security told police. That the park has become private property. It isn't. Way to go, Gord. And, a late afternoon damage control interview with Larry Updike on CBC Radio backfired when a Park official pretended that taped evidence of Hnatiuk being told he was trespassing on "private property" does not exist. Comments flowed onto the FP online version of the column. In this podcast, you will hear the answers to key questions and misinformation like: - why did he record the discussion with police (hint: *someone* told him to); -  why the issue of  Graham's "defacing" the park and not being wanted is a falsehood refuted by the Park's own email to him; -  a defence of Graham's character from the mindless attacks of anti-free speech zombies, who look down their noses at independent artists; - the role of the police officer who tossed threats of huge fines and multiple offences to intimidate Graham into leaving the Park; - the serious implications of this incident, and how free speech - even when it is only chalk art - is being threatened by an entitled class across North America as well as in Winnipeg who want to control our activities and freedoms; and exclusively, a surprising discovery about the history of city "permits" for buskers, that seems to have appeared and then disappeared under Mayor Sam Katz' administration. ********************** Related: (includes comments from outraged supporters) To all those who have supported me in doing public street art in Assiniboine Park http://progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.ca/2012/08/to-all-those-who-have-supported-me-in.html