Ralph Kaisers tweet was in response to two other images shared by the Defund 604 Network last week showing a banner hanging over the Georgia viaduct. That banner, posted after the Vancouver Police Department released a widely criticized audit of social services, read: “F*** VPD, all power to DTES.” Kaisers posted an edited image of the banner two days later, which an anonymous citizen said. Below the line about “puzzlers,” the crumpled banner read, “power to the working class.” Dozens of people responded to Kaiser’s tweet, most criticizing the union president’s decision to fire the original post. Some called for his resignation. “This is beyond the pale,” wrote Meaghan Duthie. “This is how you build relationships (with) the DTES community?” CTV News reached out to Kaisers to ask what the redacted message means to him and why he decided to share it with the public. This story will be updated if a response is received. Some who work on the Downtown Eastside felt Kaiser’s decision to address the position in this way risked deepening divisions in a neighborhood facing serious life-and-death issues. “I just feel like it’s trying to pit one community against another,” said Sarah Blyth, former park board president and co-founder of the Overdose Prevention Society. “Everybody’s struggling right now, so everybody’s upset and I think he’s got to get over it.” Given the power police wield — including their limited ability to use deadly force — some critics argue it’s vital that departments accept criticism and accountability. And while some of that criticism may be broad and even unfair, Blyth argued that engaging in “Twitter flame wars” does nothing to promote reason or help the people the police are paid to serve. . “Ralph in particular, but all of them have to be better than that. Like grow up a bit,” Blyth said. “It’s strange that they come back the way they do. It’s not professional – it seems very personal.” Public tensions have risen ahead of the 2022 municipal elections, which have seen many candidates focus their campaign messages on the city’s overlapping problems of crime, homelessness and drug use, and during which the Kaisers union controversially decided to back a candidate for mayor for the first time ever. Now that the new ABC Vancouver-led council has begun work at city hall and with David Eby sworn in as BC’s next NDP premier later this month, Blyth said she is optimistic about all government agencies, not for-profit and philanthropic organizations with an interest in helping the troubled Downtown Eastside neighborhood will work together to achieve their common goals. “It’s time to stop with all this politics,” he said. “Everybody knows the election is kind of heating up. The election is over now. Endorsements don’t mean you’re running the government. So now we have to work together — everybody’s doing it — to make a better city for everybody, because a lot of people are suffering.”
