All Phil wanted to do was get somebody to listen to him.
To hear that he – an Asian man – was being relentlessly bullied and harassed by his neighbour in Burnaby.
Phil (not his real name) had been to the police numerous times, but there was never enough evidence for them to do anything.
And so he set up as many as six CCTV cameras in an attempt to document what he was going through.
Year after year, I have been bullied and harassed by the same neighbour Mr. X who discriminated against me being an Asian living in Canada. I need to speak up and not to be afraid anymore. I am tired and feeling stressed out by many situations, case after case, throughout the years. I have been yelled at and shouted at by my neighbour Mr. X when I am out doing my lawn. I just keep quiet and go back to my house to avoid being harassed. I report it to the RCMP but they could not do anything about my case.”
His private fence has been cut many times since he installed it in summer 2019. Due to there being no proof who did it, the RCMP required evidence for further action.
“I installed CCTV outside the house to collect evidence and the harassment keeps going,” Phil said.
What Mr. X did was file a complaint to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, which dispatched an investigator to look into the case.
Now he’s being told to take down the cameras.
The problem is how some of the cameras are situated. They don’t just show Phil’s property and the street – they peer towards Mr. X’s property.
In an email to Phil from the investigator, it says that the other property owner has to consent to having cameras aimed at their property.
Phil is hoping that perhaps the angles of the cameras can just be changed to only show his property and so they can remain up. He’s not sure what to do next.
“My property had been vandalized and kids had been attacked by the neighbour,” Phil said. “CCTV serves as protection of kids here and my property. I am feeling afraid living in my own house now.”
It’s interesting yet sad situation. How do you gather evidence if the technology violates privacy?
