Photo: The Canadian Press
Howard Breen of Nanaimo, shown in this undated image, says he has been on a hunger strike for 23 days and will not stop protesting against the old logging until the British Columbia Forest Minister agrees to a public meeting. CANADIAN PRESS / HO-Save the old growth
The 68-year-old activist says “death watchers” have secured his safety on the 23rd day of a hunger strike over ancient logging practices in British Columbia.
Howard Breen said on Saturday that he had stopped drinking liquids two days earlier in a bid to pressure the province to stop all old trees due to the climate crisis and that he would not end his protest until the forest minister agreed to a public meeting. .
Breen says Catherine Conroy called him and his colleague on a hunger strike on Friday, but refused to meet with them and other members of a group called Save Old Growth.
“It was very clear that she was not interested in a public, recorded Zoom meeting with her chief forester, deputy minister or anyone else who wanted to bring her. And, of course, we would bring in our climate and forestry experts, “said Breen from his home in Nanaimo.
“I imprisoned the minister because she just told me this typical line,” he said. “With the urgency of the moment, there was really no time to waste further discussing something that was prepared to meet us halfway.”
Breen said his two daughters are nurses and are checking on him while he keeps in touch with a family doctor in Burnaby.
“Our death monitors monitor me while I sleep, and monitor me during the day if I pass out, have a seizure, or start hallucinating. They will alert the medical team that is watching me. “
Conroy said she had “meaningful conversations” with Breen and her starving colleague Brent Eichler.
“I expressed my suffering for their well-being while listening directly to their concerns. I called on them to take care of their health while we continue the important work for the protection of old forests, “she said in an e-mail statement from the Ministry of Forestry.
Breen called the conversation “polite,” but said other actions taken by Save Old Growth, including recent blockades of bridges and major roads, point to the severity of the “climate emergency” related to logging.
However, he denied that some commuters were angry about the group’s tactics, saying there was widespread support for those participating in various forms of protest while risking arrest. Two people were detained last week after being allegedly chained to a 227-pound barrel placed in the middle of the Trans-Canadian Highway on Vancouver Island.
They want the British Columbia government to stop all kinds of logging in the province.
Save Old Growth members are among more than 1,000 people arrested in the Ferry Creek watershed northwest of Victoria for allegedly violating a ban on blockades.
The BC Supreme Court has heard about 400 of them are accused of criminal contempt.
Breen said the RCMP had arrested him elsewhere for other protests and that he was currently facing 12 charges, including three times when he glued his hands to logs.
The province appointed an independent two-member commission in 2019 to review old growth policies and also consult with the public.
Conroy announced earlier this month that BC is working with First Nations to postpone logging in more than a million hectares of old forest at risk of permanent loss, an area larger than 4,100 Stanley Parks.
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