Seniors block downtown street for old-growth logging protest in Victoria
Approximately 200 seniors gathered on the lawn of B.C.'s legislature in Victoria on Thursday to protest old-growth logging in the province.
The seniors say they're calling for a recently approved two-year deferral of old-growth logging in areas of Vancouver Island to be extended across the entire province.
Some of the seniors say they're willing to be arrested for their beliefs, and about two dozen spread across a downtown Victoria street, blocking vehicle access.
"The premier and his cabinet need to keep their election promises to implement the old-growth strategy report in its totality," said 92-year-old Clare Lowery in a statement Wednesday. "We cannot build a future on broken promises."
Last week, three Vancouver Island First Nations notified the province that they would be suspending all old-growth logging activity on their lands for the next two years as the nations worked on long-term resource stewardship plans.
On Monday, forestry company Teal-Jones said it would abide by the First Nations declaration, and on Wednesday the B.C. government accepted the request.
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, where protesters have been set up since August 2020.
Seniors are seen protesting old-growth logging outside of the B.C. legislature on June 10, 2021: (CTV News)Despite the two-year deferral, some say the suspension does not go far enough.
Protesters in the Fairy Creek watershed say "very few have left" after news broke that the deferral had been approved on Wednesday.
The three First Nations behind the deferral – the Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht and Pacheedaht – say no other groups have a right to speak on their behalf.
"We expect everyone to allow forestry operations approved by our nations and the Government of British Columbia in other parts of our territories to continue without interruption," said the nations in a joint statement Wednesday.
On Wednesday, B.C. Premier John Horgan said significant changes to the province's forestry industry would take time to implement.
"I’m hopeful that those who have taken to the roads of southern Vancouver Island will understand that this process is not one that can happen overnight," said Horgan.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.