Fourteen people were arrested on Monday after protesters fighting to save old forests in British Columbia shut down rush hour traffic in several high-volume areas.
On Vancouver Island, near the Swartz Bay ferry terminal, which connects the island to the mainland, about a dozen protesters rose on the highway, preventing people from sailing.
A video circulating on social media shows some drivers getting out of their vehicles and approaching protesters, urging them to move.
Police said a man who had landed on top of the descending ladder was taken to hospital by ambulance. RCMP Cpl. Alex Berube said police were investigating the circumstances that led to the fall of the ladder.
14 arrested, 1 taken to hospital after protests against old logging on Monday morning
More than a dozen people were arrested on June 13th after protesters fighting to save old forests shut down rush hour traffic in several large areas in the province.
Berube said five protesters had been arrested, three of whom had been remanded in custody pending a bail hearing, and two had been released with court documents to appear in court at a later date.
He said it was too early to comment on what charges they could face.
According to Canadian Penal Codeblocking or obstructing a highway is illegal.
Berube said police were investigating both protesters and commuters.
“The RCMP will not approve any illegal actions taken to circumvent the blockades,” he said.
Protests in the Lower Continent
In Vancouver, police say passengers across the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge on Monday morning were delayed by about 15 minutes as police worked quickly to remove protesters who blocked the bridge by car and were in the process of locking themselves behind the wheel.
Five people were arrested as part of the protest.
Sergeant Steve Addison said the Vancouver Police Department was aware that the protesters planned to leave on Monday and had scheduled additional officers to respond.
“After seeing so many protests in Vancouver, like hundreds last year alone, we are quite familiar with how these groups work,” he said.
Protesters block the Massi tunnel on June 13, 2022 (Save the old growth)
Another blockade was placed in Richmond, British Columbia, outside the Massie Tunnel, a major artery for people traveling to the city. Four people have been arrested, and RCMP Richmond says they are prosecuting all four.
“Breaks will continue”
Save Old Growth became headlines in August 2020, when protesters moved near the Fairy Creek watershed to protect dense old forest from deforestation.
Sofia Pap, coordinator of Save Old Growth, said that while the efforts at Fairy Creek were attracting attention, it did not pose a problem for all British Colombians, as does the blockade of major roads.
“Taking action in the urban sphere or on the road … was a very divisive tactic,” she said.
“But people talk about us in a way that I don’t think Fairy Creek had, for better or worse.”
The goal, Pope said, is for the government to pass legislation that would prevent logging companies from cutting down all old forests.
“The interruptions will continue until we get this,” she said.
British Columbia Forest Minister Catherine Conroy said in a statement that her government had taken action to protect those forests and said they had prevented logging in nearly 17,000 square kilometers of old forests in British Columbia. She said about 80 percent of the most endangered old growth in BC has been protected, delayed or considered uneconomical for harvesting.
Conroy said while the province respected the right to peaceful protest, what the protesters did on Monday was a “wrong approach”.
But Pap said that’s the only way to get attention.
“We tried other tactics,” she said.
“We have made marches, petitions, hunger strikes,” and this has never caused such media attention. In fact, I’m scared most of the time when I’m on the road. But I don’t know what else to do. “
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