Three anti-logging protesters were arrested on Tuesday after the RCMP resumed enforcement of a court-ordered injunction at the Fairy Creek Watershed near Lake Cowichan.
The arrests came less than a week after 146 court cases against Fairy Creek anti-logging protesters were dropped by B.C.’s prosecution service because police had not read the entire injunction to the defendants before they were arrested.
RCMP said officers spoke with protesters who were blocking a bridge about 9 a.m. Tuesday. The protesters were told they could leave the area, move to a designated spot or face arrest, police said.
Several refused to leave and three were arrested for breaching the injunction order. They were later released without being processed by Lake Cowichan RCMP.
One officer was allegedly assaulted by a suspect who fled into the woods. A report will be forwarded to Crown counsel with consideration of criminal charges, police said.
In recent weeks, Teal Cedar Products Ltd., which was granted the injunction in April 2021, has reported “numerous violations of persons obstructing, impeding and interfering with their ability to perform work in the area,” police said.
There have been reports from employees about being harassed or intimidated, police said, and equipment and corporate vehicles were vandalized on a forestry road outside Port Renfrew.
The protesters arrested on Tuesday were on the TR-11 Forestry Service Road at a bridge over the Gordon River, preventing workers from getting to timber that had been felled.
Molly Murphy, an activist who witnessed the enforcement as an independent media observer, said police arrived with at least 15 vehicles, a helicopter, extraction teams, a drone operator and about 20 regular officers.
RCMP threatened members of the media with arrest for obstruction, she said, but allowed journalists to remain “fairly close” to the scene.
Of the three arrested, two were carried out, Murphy said.
Journalist Brandi Morin was allowed to accompany an Indigenous woman who was arrested, Murphy said.
During the arrests, the terms of the injunction were played several times over a loudspeaker, Murphy said. “They learned their lesson.”
Police said they had maintained a presence in the area and were monitoring protesters’ activities, but the company made a request that the police-enforcement clause of the injunction be implemented.
“Public safety is the primary concern for police as we attempt to resolve this issue,” said Supt. Ken Floyd, B.C. RCMP gold commander.
“We have always ensured that individuals are able to exercise their rights to peacefully, safely and lawfully protest within the terms set by the court in the injunction.
“Arrests are made as a last resort, over meaningful dialogue and negotiation. However, due to the ongoing nature of the complaints we can no longer delay enforcing a court-ordered injunction.”
From May 2021 to February 2022, the RCMP made 1,100 arrests of protesters trying to block roads and prevent the old-growth trees at Fairy Creek from being cut.
A group calling itself Savage Patch has claimed responsibility for the latest blockade, which began on July 31.
Flux, a Savage Patch spokesperson who provided only a camp name because of concerns around violating an injunction, said at the weekend the blockades had seen little police activity in recent weeks apart from helicopter flybys and a few officers “showing their faces.”
“We’re making a presence and we’re trying to raise awareness about the screech owls, which is an endangered species up in the region,” Flux said.
“They need old-growth habitat to survive.”
Flux said Savage Patch leaders, who are Indigenous “local to the land” and include one Pacheedaht Nation member, were upset to learn through media that the Pacheedaht First Nation had asked them to leave.
“We did not get any word or any visitors from the Pacheedaht asking us to leave. They haven’t shown up whatsoever, and they haven’t contacted us to say that,” Flux said. “We would be super-welcoming to that conversation.” The two parties are not in regular contact, Flux said.
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