'It's intimidation': Vancouver councillors told to stop displaying children's artwork during meeting

Two Vancouver city councillors were told to remove children's artwork from their desks during Tuesday's meeting, after one of their colleagues called the display of the drawings "intimidating."

Two Vancouver city councillors were told to remove children's artwork from their desks during Tuesday's meeting, after one of their colleagues called the display of the drawings "intimidating."

A move to allow natural gas for heating and hot water in new construction in the city was on the agenda, a controversial proposition that drew over 100 speakers to the chamber.

During the meeting, the Green Party's Adriane Carr and Pete Fry displayed several brightly coloured creations rendered in crayon on construction paper that opposed the use of natural gas, a sentiment consistent with the councillors' position on the matter.

ABC Coun. Brian Montague, who was behind a motion to reverse a city-wide ban on natural gas in new builds, asked Mayor Ken Sim – as chair – to weigh in on whether the drawings violated council's procedure bylaw.

"I understand counselors are permitted to have an opinion, but earlier this morning, you made a specific point of expressing to the gallery and the people in council chambers that we shouldn't be clapping or cheering because it's intimidating to staff," he said.

"Yet I see Coun. Fry and Coun. Carr have signs, visible signs, on their desks, and I feel that's intimidating to the speakers that we're going to have. It's intimidation. They're basically saying that they don't want to hear them."

The specific section of the bylaw Montague invokes was one that says councillors conduct must not "by words, tone, manner of speaking or gesticulation, express any opinion or make any allegation that directly or indirectly reflects negatively upon the character of any person or group of persons."