The RCMP continues to enforce a court injunction banning blockades set up to prevent the logging of old-growth forest on southern Vancouver Island.
Fourteen people, including two who were chained to the Hatton Forestry Service Road bridge, were arrested Wednesday.
Police, believing the protest camp at the Caycuse roadblock had been emptied, did not plan to carry out any enforcement action today, said Cpl. Chris Manseau.
“But when a police patrol went down McClure Road this morning, they encountered people who sneaked in overnight so there were more protesters than we anticipated,” he said. “This morning more protesters literally came out of the forest. Enforcement is going on now and the media has been invited to return to the scene to watch.”
Police had to scramble a bit to send their enforcement team back down the road, he said.
Police continue to take the same slow, measured approach, arresting protesters for civil contempt for breaching the injunction order. Nobody knows how many protesters are in the area, said Manseau.
RCMP are restricting access to the Fairy Creek watershed to allow Teal-Jones Cedar Products to begin logging.
Lawyer Cara Hunt represented a protester arrested Tuesday, identified as Rainbow Eyes, in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Rainbow Eyes was held in custody because she refused to sign a police document that set out conditions for her release and a future court date, said Hunt.
“It’s her opinion as a First Nations person that she isn’t comfortable signing or formally agreeing to a condition that prohibits her entering into unceded First Nations territory,” said Hunt.
“The judge released her on most of the conditions and the one that was causing her pause — to agree not to go back into the injunction area — he did impose that condition. But he indicated he was duty bound to do that because another judge had already decided that.”
Justice Barry Davies told Rainbow Eyes he respected her views, the lawyer said. “He indicated that he heard what she was saying and he appreciated it and he knew why she was saying it, but the difficulty is, there is a court order,” said Hunt, who appeared as an amicus curiae or friend of the court.
At least a dozen protesters gathered outside the Nanaimo courthouse during the appearance, she said.
Three other people who were arrested called Hunt from the Lake Cowichan RCMP detachment seeking legal advice on whether they should sign the police documents. Anyone who refuses to sign will be detained and is expected to appear today in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo.
Hunt said lawyers for Teal-Jones were trying to get the court to commit to expedited timelines for the hearing. Hunt said she opposed that because Rainbow Eyes is a vulnerable defendant, a First Nations woman who may become homeless because of the arrest.
The judge did not ask Rainbow Eyes if she would return to the protest camp, said Hunt.
Teal-Jones released a statement Wednesday saying it respects peaceful protest and welcomes constructive dialogue. “The court’s recent ruling is clear that it is illegal to block access to Tree Farm License 46 for work undertaken in accordance with British Columbia’s strong environmental regulations and only after meaningful engagement with First Nations. Given some individuals’ refusal to abide by the law, enforcement has unfortunately become necessary. We appreciate the RCMP’s expertise in this matter,” it said.
Teal-Jones said it acknowledges the ancestral territories of all First Nations where it operates, including the Pacheedaht and Ditidaht First Nations.
“In addition, we will abide by the interim conservation measure referenced by the Pacheedaht First Nation in their recent media release, pending the development of their Integrated Resource Forest Stewardship Plan,” said the statement.
“Our work on the Tree Farm License is important and vital to sustaining hundreds of jobs in the province and producing products we all rely on every day. We will mill and utilize 100 per cent of every log cut right here in B.C.”
