Anti-government protestors tape doors shut at Vancouver cultural event?

I'm not in Vancouver today but I'm looking forward to hearing more about this sequence of events:

Yesterday:

Federal government appeals ruling on safe-injection site to nation's top court

Today:

Notice:

Public events for Prime Minister Stephen Harper for Wednesday, February 10th are:

Vancouver

1:45 p.m. – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attend the dress rehearsal of the Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Celebration Parade. He will be joined by James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, and Alice Wong, Member of Parliament (Richmond).

Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver
50 East Pender Street
Vancouver, British Columbia

*Photo opportunity only (cameras and photographers only)

NDP MP Libby Davies on Twitter at about 1330 Pacific time:

With “welcoming committe” as Harper arrives in DES. He should be in parl. Insite saves lives – crazy to appeal court decisions #fb

Three notes sent from Dimitri Soudas, press secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to the Parliamentary Press Gallery beginning at at about 1415 Pacific time:

Note 1

“Veterans, seniors and young children are currently being prevented from exiting or entering the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver because of the libby davies “welcoming committee” has taped all exits shut. This is a lack of respect for seniors, veterans canadians of chinese origin and the young kids inside the building. The situation has created a security risk for all the people currently in the building. Some doors have been chained or taped shut while people were preparing for a Chinese New Year rehearsal.”

Note 2

Door taped shut by the Libby Davies “welcoming committee”

[Soudas attached the following photograph to the message.]

Note 3 from Soudas

– Inside the chinese cultural centre are 250 chinese canadians who have gathered for a dress rehearsal of their chinese new year parade.

– At approx 125pm, about 200 protestors descended on the cultural centre and swarmed the building, will bullhorns, plackards and masking tape.

– They proceeded to block access to and from the chinese cultural centre, then began taping all the doors shut

– Another 50-75 protestors arrived and began chanting and cursing. Protestors totalling close to 300.

– Of the 250 chinese canadians, 50 are uniformed veterans, 50 are young children who have come to showcase their culture to the pm and media

in the horrible event of fire of emergency, all those goodwilled people would be prevented from exit

Is libby davie proud of this?

NDP MP Libby Davies on Twitter at about 1430 Pacific time

Very impressive gathering in support of Insite – building covered in police caution tape – Harper, you coming out to hear people? #fb

Davies again on Twitter at about 1530 Pacific time:

It was a peaceful protest in support of Insite (I didn't organize). Didn't see chains on doors. Police moved in and out freely @kady#fb

Conservative blogger Stephen Taylor has more photos he says were taken at protest, including one which shows chains on the doors.

UPDATE: On Feb. 12, 2010, Davies demanded an apology from Soudas:

VANCOUVER – Vancouver East MP Libby Davies is calling on the Prime Minister to apologize to her and retract the inflammatory and false statements made on Wednesday by his chief spokesperson Dimitri Soudas.  “Soudas’ comments misrepresented the actions of an elected Member of Parliament. This type of behaviour should be beneath the Prime Minister and his staff,” said Davies. “Soudas’ hot-headed statements undermined the integrity and dignity of the office he serves.” Davies attended a protest in Vancouver on Wednesday to show her support for InSite, Vancouver’s safe injection site, which the Harper Conservatives have been attempting to shut down despite scientific evidence that shows it is saving lives. Soudas told the press that Davies organized the protest and that she encouraged “locking and chaining doors of buildings while seniors, veterans, and young children are gathered inside.”   All his charges are completely unfounded and untrue.   This isn’t the first time the Prime Minister’s communications staff have jumped to conclusions based on little or no facts.   In December, Soudas publicly berated environmentalist Stephen Guilbeault at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, accusing him of creating an anti-Harper press release that another group later claimed responsibility for.   In October, the Government accused New Democrat Leader Jack Layton of being responsible for a protest in the public gallery in the House of Commons. Again, the charge was a fabrication. And last July, the Prime Minister had to apologize after he attacked the Liberal leader based on false information provided to him by Soudas. “At best the Prime Minister’s spokesperson is incompetent, and at worst malicious,” said Davies.  “However, we're giving the Prime Minister a chance to the do the right thing, apologize, and correct the misinformation that his chief spokesperson has distributed to the public.”