As hundreds marched in Victoria to mark the first anniversary of old-growth blockades at Fairy Creek, the RCMP moved into camps in the disputed area and started making arrests to remove protesters.
The Rainforest Flying Squad said three of the blockades along the Granite Main were raided simultaneously as protesters gathered at the Victoria courtouse and marched to the legislature to deliver a petition signed by 150,000 calling for the end of old-growth logging, a key recommendation in the province’s Old Growth Strategic Review.
Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau accepted the petition and championed the protesters, citing a United Nations report Monday calling climate change “a code red for humanity” and scientists saying humans will soon have “nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.”
Kathleen Code, a spokeswoman for the Rainforest Flying Squad, said Monday’s raids in the Fairy Creek area “were strategically planned” by the RCMP.
“They didn’t think we would have enough people [at the camps] because of the march here, and would have to make a decision,” Code said. “But we have enough to support both … more people are heading up there right now.”
Code said about 20 protesters had been arrested at blockades known as Heli Camp, HQ and River Camp by Monday afternoon, “and most of them were Indigenous.”
Sgt. Chris Manseau confirmed RCMP were making several arrests along Granite Main, the first time since Thursday that officers have been dispatched to the disputed logging areas. He could not immediately provide details of arrests until officers could report back.
In its last update on Thursday, RCMP said they had made 523 arrests since May when Teal-Jones Group — which holds the tree farm licence for the area — was granted an injunction from B.C. Supreme Court.
Thirty-nine people have been arrested more than once, accounting for 94 of the arrests. Of the overall total arrested, 374 were taken into custody and released for breaching the injunction, 125 were arrested for obstruction, 11 for mischief, five for breaching release conditions, four for assaulting a police officer, two were for failing to comply with a court order, one for counselling to resist arrest and one was wanted on Canada-wide warrants issued by Canada Border Services Agency.
Code said after a year of blockades, support is far from waning.
“We’ve had more support than we’ve ever had,” she said while taking part in Monday’s march. “That’s support from all over the province.”
Rainforest Flying Squad organizers were urging “all those who care about old-growth forests” to head to the Port Renfrew area with supplies for at least two days “to help protect the camps — especially the elders’ groups, who seem to have a gift for walking through exclusion zones.”
“How many people will John Horgan have arrested before he delivers on his election promise to protect old-growth forests?” said spokesman Bobby Arbess.
The boxed petitions with 150,000 names from the environmental group Stand.earth were delivered to Furstenau and Green MP Adam Olsen on the steps of the legislature. They promised to deliver it to the house when it resumes in October.
“On a day like today, when we’ve received the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, saying this is ‘code red’ for humanity, one of our best defences against climate change in British Columbia should be our forests, and in particular our old-growth forests,” said Furstenau.
The petition demanded the NDP government live up to its election promises.
“The B.C. government committed during the last election to implement all 14 recommendations from the old-growth review panel, and ban logging for the most at-risk old-growth forests immediately, but they still haven’t followed through, leaving the majority of these forests on the chopping block,” the petition said. “These ancient forests need our protection, before there’s nothing left.”
B.C.’s minister of forests, Katrine Conroy, issued a written statement. “Since September 2020, we’ve deferred harvesting in 11 areas that contain almost 200,000 hectares of old growth,” it said.
Conroy’s statement includes a promise to add more old-growth logging deferrals in the future and to develop a long-term old-growth strategy for B.C.
Furstenau said the B.C. government reneged on introducing a plan two years ago.
“The NDP government has been promising forestry reforms since 2017 under our confidence and supply agreement,” she said. “They had legislation ready to go in 2019 but they didn’t proceed. Instead, they called an election and made more promises, but have never introduced any of them.”
— With files from the Vancouver Sun
