A man was arrested during rush hour Monday morning during the latest blockade of the Ironworkers’ Memorial Bridge by a group protesting logging in the old forests of British Columbia.
Vancouver police say a 37-year-old woman has been charged with an accident and roadblock.
The Save Old Growth group says it organized 11 “direct action” blockades in Vancouver in April. Since January, it has also blocked highways in Victoria, Nanaimo and Revelstoke. The group says 85 people have been arrested so far and have no plans to end the outages.
“Our fear is over. We will not stop until the government passes legislation to end all old logging, “said spokeswoman Julia Torgerson.
“It’s not a big demand, we only have 2.7% of productive old growth. Killing the last of these ancient trees is a death sentence for millions of Canadians due to an ecological collapse.”
In Victoria, Forest Minister Catherine Conroy defended the province’s logging policy and said protesters were not gathering support by angering people.
“We have already postponed more than 1.7 million hectares of old growth in this province. “Just to put it in perspective, that’s the equivalent of more than 4,000 Stanley parks,” Conroy said.
But proponents of Save Old Growth argue that postponing the felling of old growth is not the same as rescuing trees.
“The delay means we will reduce them at the end of the delay,” said retired UBC professor Bill Winder, who was arrested during the blockade. “No law says we will protect the last three percent of the old growth.”
Members of Save Old Growth “stuck” to the road to block the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal on Monday, January 31st. (SOG media)
Winder said highway blockades were an act of desperation by mostly young protesters.
“They are fighting for their future,” he said. “Because the government has neglected its obligation to take care of the climate.
Save Old Growth requested a public meeting with Conroy.
“We will remain nonviolent and fight for a viable future in a way that is proportionate to the emergency we face,” Torgerson said.
Two protesters to save the old growth, arrested on April 20 by the West Shore RCMP, remain in custody.
Derek Hugh Menard, 33, of Victoria, is accused of an accident and failure to comply with the company’s conditions. Elizabeth Helen Stewart, 23, of Victoria, has been charged with intimidation and mischief.
The RCMP, which has jurisdiction over much of the province, says it is monitoring and preparing for future protests.
“As long as we support individual rights to peaceful protests, blocking the highway is a criminal act and will not be tolerated,” he said. Alex Berube of BC RCMP. “What we have seen in the past has not only had a significant economic impact due to the blockade of the highway, but has also disrupted the lives of many people with personal commitments and obligations.”
Berube said police could detain detainees if the person is likely to ignore police conditions and join another illegal protest.
“Then it just becomes a reason to keep them in custody according to the law,” he said, “because why would you release an offender knowing he’s very likely to commit another crime?” So we put them in court and they decided. “
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