AUDIO posted on November 19, 2011 by Miles Howe

Shifty Peter Kelly

Exclusive Audio of Mayor Kelly's Meeting with Veterans, Occupiers.

by Miles Howe

» Download file 'kellyfiasco.mp3' (11.7MB)

This is Halifax's Mayor, Peter Kelly.

You'll need to pay close attention to the beginning of the following audio. Recorded at the October 28th, in-tent meeting between Mayor Kelly, and representatives from both veterans and Occupiers, Mayor Kelly speaks first on the recording. Apologies for the quick intro, that's the way I received the file.

The tape is relevant because the memory of the conversations that took place in the meeting have recently been brought into question. Tom Waters, one of the veterans' representatives at the meeting, recently went public and noted that he thought that Occupiers would be allowed to return to Grand Parade Square after the November 11th Remembrance Day ceremonies. John Thibeau, one of the Occupiers present at the meeting, remembers the same thing. Peter Kelly, the man behind the violent eviction of the Occupiers from Victoria Park, to which the Occupation moved in deference to Remembrance Day, remembers something different. Indeed, he'd pretty much have had to, considering his recent posturing as "strongman-about-town".

So here's the tape to settle the score. But does it?

While Kelly doesn't specifically say "You can come back to Grand Parade on November 12th", he most certainly doesn't say "I'm going to wait until you move somewhere out of the way, until the stores are all closed for Remembrance Day, until most of the city (Occupiers included) is busy with ceremonies, and until there is a torrential downpour...and then I'm going to evict you."

So make of the following audio what you will. To me, it appears that veterans and Occupiers (and even Kelly) come to genuine and respectful consensus. Mayor Kelly never really tips his hand, but he most certainly appears to go along with the process, and offer up the nugget of "many other options are on the table."

I wonder if brutal eviction was one of those options he was thinking of, or did it come to him later?

Please enjoy the following audio between Mayor Peter Kelly, representative veterans, and Occupiers.