METRO VANCOUVER - At least a dozen protesters were arrested on Burnaby Mountain Thursday morning, as RCMP moved in and forcibly removed demonstrators from blocking Kinder Morgan from doing survey work for the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion.
Protest organizer Lynne Quarmby said at least 12 demonstrators were arrested, and were being processed after being taken away in police vans. Some have already been charged with civil contempt.
One of them was Adam Gold, who was named as a defendant in the injunction that the pipeline company was granted last week. The injunction stated that protesters had until 4 p.m. Monday to dismantle tents and structures, however they defied that court order and remained at the site.
At Burnaby Mountain early Thursday, one man was carried off by several police officers, while protester Bridget DePape held her arm up while two officers led her to a van. When they handcuffed her she complained “ow that really hurts.”
DePape is a Canadian activist who gained national attention in 2011 for protesting in the Canadian senate. As she was loaded into the police van she shouted “It will take all of us stepping into our power to stop this pipeline.”
“We can transition to a clean and just future for all people in my generation and the next generation as well,” she said, as the doors to the police van closed.
Trans Mountain workers arrived at around 12:45 p.m. to begin preparing the site for geotechnical field studies. In a statement, Kinder Morgan said it “is pleased that the majority of the individuals occupying the area complied with the order and continue to exercise their rights to express their views in a respectful manner, while allowing our team to begin the work safely.”
Kinder Morgan said the studies require drilling two six-inch test holes, approximately 250 metres in depth, in order to take core samples at two locations on Burnaby Mountain.
Tim Bartoo, a Burnaby resident opposed to the pipeline, said police showed up at around 8 a.m. He described the arrests as peaceful, although a bit aggressive.
“A large contingent of officers marched in and began removing people, relatively peacefully, but there was a huge display of force,” he said. “It was pretty much what you’d expect.”
Protesters hugged each other, some shouted at police, while others cried. Wiping away tears, Emily Cook said her friend had been arrested outside the injunction zone as he was trying to communicate with police about not wanting to be arrested.
“They did not give him the option. They gave him no warning he would be arrested. They put him in zap straps,” she said.
Bartoo also said it seemed like officers were not informing people they would be arrested. “Some people in the camp were not given the opportunity to position themselves in or out of the zone where people would be arrested. The police told us on the street that if you move to the side you’ll be safe.”
Police cordoned off the protest area and were keeping people out. They also blocked access at the bottom of Centennial Way, the road in Burnaby where the protesters have been camped out for around two months.
But at least one person climbed into a tree within the injunction zone on Burnaby Mountain and was refusing to leave. His defiance, captured by photographers, was live streamed on UStream through Sea Shepherd Vancouver, as RCMP tried to negotiate his departure.
The protester was broadcasting with a megaphone why he had decided to defy the injunction, and he has encouraged others to join him, noting that “only 18 officers here”.
“Double that number and come out,” he shouted at the videographer. “Triple that number and come out.”
The Sea Shepherd videographer said police were trying to negotiate with the protester in the tree, who told them he was not harnessed into the tree and if they shot him out with a taser or a bean bag shotgun, he would be hurt. The narrator said police appear ready to climb up the tree and force the man out.
A number of photographers were also encamped just outside the cordoned off area recording the confrontation.
The injunction, aimed at protesters who have been blocking survey work by Kinder Morgan crews intended to enable the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, took effect Monday afternoon. Police delayed enforcing the injunction until early Thursday, by which time the protest site had swelled with people.
Before they were arrested, protesters sat on the ground in the camp and linked arms. About 50 protesters who are standing outside the injunction zone chanted “power to the people” and “stop Kinder Morgan.”
Burnaby RCMP released a statement Thursday afternoon, saying at all times during the arrests, the Burnaby RCMP strived “to balance the need to maintain public safety and civil order with the democratic right to hold demonstrations.” RCMP said a lawful assembly area has been set up for those who wish to continue “to protest peacefully and lawfully.”
On Monday, Burnaby RCMP attended the protest site to read out the injunction enforcement order to protesters.
Their statement issued Monday said: “At all times, the Burnaby RCMP will strive to balance the need to maintain civil order and the democratic right to hold demonstrations. But, police must carry out our lawful duties under the Criminal Code of Canada and as directed by the enforcement order issued by Justice Austin Cullen on Nov. 14, 2014.”
