The community response to the vandalism on Locke Street has been remarkable, but it has also left other targeted businesses in other areas of the city feeling ignored.
Chef Matt Cowan and his wife opened The Heather restaurant two years ago and it didn’t take long before they were targeted. He says it cost over $1000 to replace a window that was hit by piece of concrete last April.
In May, security video captured two men gluing anarchist propaganda posters to The Heather and other businesses on Barton Street and gluing the locks on the doors.
“It was pretty upsetting. This is our livelihood this has been a dream of mine for 20 years, the place is named after my mom.” He said.
Cowan says he sympathizes with the business owners along Locke Street, but he is upset that the mayor and councillors are being so vocal now when they’ve been silent for years as The Heather and other businesses on Barton Street have been targeted repeatedly. He believes what he has been dealing with has to do with The Tower. On The Tower’s website is a post taking credit for the vandalism on Barton Street last year.
“This summer, we took a few small actions to remind the profiteers and boosters of gentrification that their presence in our neighbourhoods is unwelcome.”
Owners of other businesses targeted on Barton Street would not go on camera for fear of retaliation which Matt Cowan fully expects, but he says he cannot go on living in fear.
