Tensions were high along the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) on Wednesday after Save Old Growth protesters set up a road blockade at the Malahat, leaving traffic backed up for hours.
Video from Save Old Growth shows a pair of fed-up commuters attempting to physically remove a barrier, as one tosses traffic cones and another tears a banner from a protester’s hands after yelling, “I’ve got kids in the car [who] are sick.”
The activist group posted the footage to Twitter, saying its members “remained peaceful and calm when faced with violence from the public.”
https://twitter.com/saveoldgrowth/status/1516965343821848577
Save Old Growth had warned they’d be blocking the highway starting at around 3:30 p.m. They say members managed to keep the blockade in place for four hours, which eventually led to two arrests.
https://twitter.com/saveoldgrowth/status/1516961830546989060
Meanwhile, similar incidents captured on cam in Vancouver this morning show old-growth protesters blocking the TCH being dragged off the road by commuters.
But these road blockades are nothing new.
In Greater Victoria last Friday, April 15th, heading into the Easter long weekend, Save Old Growth disrupted traffic on the TCH at West Shore Parkway.
Eighty-four people have been arrested on BC highways since January in Vancouver, Revelstoke, Victoria and Nanaimo, the group said Thursday.
Still, it notes that it won’t stop blocking routes until the BC government passes legislation to end all old-growth logging.
Earlier this month, the province of BC said it was working with First Nations to defer logging of old-growth and develop a new approach to sustainable forest management.
“Deferrals have been implemented on nearly 1.7 million hectares of old-growth, including approximately 1.05 million hectares of BC’s forests most at risk of irreversible loss,” states a press release.
