6 adults and 2 minors arrested at Vancouver Island logging protests
Police enforcing a court injunction against anti-logging protesters in an old-growth forest on Vancouver Island arrested eight more people on Saturday, including two minors.
Mounties have now arrested a total of 222 people in the Fairy Creek watershed since enforcement of the injunction began last month. At least 10 of those people have been arrested multiple times, according to a news release from Lake Cowichan RCMP on Saturday.
Protesters have been camped out in the forest near Port Renfrew on southwest Vancouver Island since last summer, digging in to prevent logging in what they say is the South Island's last remaining unprotected old-growth forest.
Earlier this week, the provincial government approved a two-year deferral of old-growth logging on more than 2,000 hectares of forests in the area. Three First Nations - the Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht, and Pacheedaht - said they plan to defer logging in the region while they develop long-term resource stewardship strategies.
The deferred lands include 884 hectares of old forests in the Fairy Creek watershed, near Port Renfrew, and 1,150 hectares of old growth in the central Walbran valley, near Lake Cowichan.
Protests have continued despite the deferrals, however, with activists demanding a permanent end to old-growth logging in the province.
The B.C. Supreme Court issued its injunction in April, directing protesters not to block logging crews from doing their work in the area.
Of the 222 arrests RCMP have made since enforcement of the injunction began, 180 were for breaching the injunction, 41 were for obstruction and one was for counselling another person to resist arrest, police said.
Mounties allege that the eight people arrested Saturday were breaching the injunction. They were taken to the Lake Cowichan detachment for processing.
"Police are aware that there was a call out for parents to bring their children to the camps supporting the protest activities," RCMP said in their release. "Today's enforcement included the arrest of two minors who were actively engaged in breaching the injunction by being in a tripod and locking themselves in a sleeping dragon. We are asking parents to help prevent their minors from participating in these dangerous and illegal activities."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.