{"id":91684,"date":"2017-02-28T19:03:16","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T00:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=91684"},"modified":"2017-02-28T19:03:16","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T00:03:16","slug":"noisy-protest-heated-arguments-as-trump-sons-attend-hotel-opening-in-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/02\/28\/noisy-protest-heated-arguments-as-trump-sons-attend-hotel-opening-in-vancouver\/","title":{"rendered":"Noisy protest, heated arguments as Trump sons attend hotel opening in Vancouver"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Trump<\/a>
Trump Tower has become a focal point for protests over the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, comments about women and promises to build a wall to keep Mexican migrants out of the United States. (Photo: Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver\/ Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

VANCOUVER \u2013Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters waved signs and chanted on the streets of Vancouver on Tuesday while inside the newly completed Trump Tower, smiling members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s family snipped through a red ribbon to mark the grand opening of the latest addition to the city’s skyline.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, scions of the billionaire real-estate mogul turned politician, were in Vancouver to celebrate the completion of the $360-million hotel and condominium development, which has become a lightning rod for demonstrations against the American leader.<\/p>\n

Eric, the younger of the two brothers, spoke glowingly of his family’s success over the past year, touting the Trump brand as one that continues to be synonymous with unrivalled class and quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve had an unbelievable past year on so many fronts as a family. We’ve opened so many great properties,\u201d he told the official opening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis building now sits in a great portfolio of what we consider the best buildings in the world, best architectural masterpieces anywhere in the world. And that is what our brand is all about, that is what our father’s vision was all about, creating the most iconic buildings anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump’s daughter, Tiffany Trump, was also on hand for the occasion, along with the wives of Trump’s two sons.<\/p>\n

Vancouver’s Trump International Hotel and Tower was built by developer Joo Kim Tiah, the president and CEO of Holborn Group, who is the son of one of Malaysia’s wealthiest businessmen.<\/p>\n

The Trump Organization does not own the tower, but licensed its name for branding and marketing, while the Trump Hotel Collection operates the 147-room hotel. The building is a unique twisting structure designed by late architect Arthur Erickson.<\/p>\n

A news release publicizing the grand opening describes the building as a 69-storey structure, as well as the first hotel to open in Vancouver in the past six years. But a spokesman for the city said in an email that a building permit issued in 2008 authorized a structure with 63 above-ground storeys, and that another hotel received its first licence to operate in 2014, just three years ago.<\/p>\n

Trump Tower has become a focal point for protests over the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, comments about women and promises to build a wall to keep Mexican migrants out of the United States.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, several protesters began singing the national anthem and there were some heated arguments between small numbers of pro-Trump attendees and the anti-Trump demonstrators.<\/p>\n

Beth Nesbit, who moved to Vancouver two years ago from Los Angeles and attended the protest with her two-year-old son Liam, said Trump doesn’t represent what Americans believe in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn’t believe in women’s rights. He doesn’t believe in public education,\u201d she said, adding that she supports Mayor Gregor Robertson’s call for the Trump name to be removed from the building.<\/p>\n

Henry Ho of Vancouver had never been to a protest before but arrived in front of Trump Tower carrying signs that read \u201cDump Trump\u201d and \u201cIs it 2020 yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re not just going to be quiet and let things happen the way they are,\u201d said the 27-year-old self-described supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will show that we can come together and aren’t divided by all the hate he spews out.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Trump’s call in 2015 for a \u201ccomplete shutdown\u201d of Muslims entering the U.S., a petition urging Holborn Group to dump the Trump name attracted 56,000 signatures.<\/p>\n

Tiah told The Associated Press he’s now \u201clocked\u201d into his licensing agreement, with no legal grounds to back out of the deal, whose terms have not been released.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old said in the recent interview that he found Trump’s statements about Muslims, Mexicans and women \u201cextremely stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a lot of soul searching because people were attacking me for it,\u201d said Tiah.<\/p>\n

At Tuesday’s opening, he thanked God and his parents. \u201cThank you for being tough on me and not spoiling me. I hope you’re proud parents today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank the media for constantly keeping us in the spotlight,\u201d Tiah added, prompting laughs from the crowd.<\/p>\n

Outside the building, protesters wrote on the sidewalk in chalk and stuck colourful Post-it notes on an exterior wall with messages like \u201cLove and compassion\u201d and \u201cTweet everyone with respect.<\/p>\n

Colleen O’Neil, 65, wrote \u201cYour hate mongering is un-Canadian\u201d in blue chalk in front of the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone just said to me, ‘Why do you care? We’re in Canada,’ \u201c she said. \u201cIt’s happening in Canada. It’s happening all over the world now. He’s given permission for us to hate each other and kill each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joel Johnson, 40, was wearing a red \u201cMake Canada Great Again\u201d hat and described the protest as \u201cridiculous.\u201d He said it’s time to put Canada \u201cfirst\u201d again, mentioning elderly people who can’t afford food and the skyrocketing cost of housing in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada’s losing a lot of its values. Until we start fixing those values, we shouldn’t be taking in any more immigration,\u201d Johnson said, adding that he supports Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m definitely worried about letting in unvetted people when we have people who have been waiting properly for five to six years to come into our country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER \u2013Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters waved signs and chanted on the streets of Vancouver on Tuesday while inside the newly …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":91685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[15912,15913],"class_list":["post-91684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","tag-anti-trump","tag-trump-towers","mauthors-geordon-omand","mauthors-laura-kane","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}