I recently returned from another visit to the Fairy Creek Blockade where I lived with the land defenders in the forest for five days. It's a very emotional place rife with tensions, and the issue is complicated but for the sake of action, I will state some cold, hard facts.
In 2020, B.C. Premier John Horgan campaigned on the promise to implement the 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review, which he commissioned with taxpayers money.
It recommended that within the first six months, the government "defer development in old forests with a high risk of irreversible biodiversity loss." Premier John Horgan has failed to keep this promise.
And the extent to which he is prepared to use force, paid for with your tax dollars to ensure that Teal Jones be allowed to continue harvesting old growth is incomprehensible. Since April 1, your tax dollars have been used daily to employ upwards of 40 RCMP (brought in from across Canada, housed and fed), Special Forces (SWAT), helicopters and drones to support Teal Jones accessing these ancient forests. The degree of militarization and its cost is staggering.
Wouldn't it be better to spend these vast sums of money on compensation for not cutting the old-growth and transition funding for communities affected by a moratorium?
Nothing can prepare you for the reality of this situation. I know there are good people out there collecting much-needed supplies for the protesters and donating money, but I implore you to go to Fairy Creek if you can. Walk up the road. You are legally allowed to be there. Support a forest defender being extracted from a trench or being removed from a precariously high tree-sit. See for yourself the "war zone."
See where your tax dollars are being spent! Say thank you to the active protestors who will not accept Horgan's half-measures, who recognize that time has run out, climate change is real and some things are quite simply priceless.
Say thank you to the organizers on the roadside who help keep the active protestors fed and warmly clothed. Winter is coming and they need our physical presence more than ever.
Each time, the experience of being there fills me with a deep sadness and then rage at the short-sightedness of the Horgan government. John Horgan needs to know loud and clear that what he is doing is reprehensible. Let's do what we can to harness our collective energy into a force that the provincial NDP government cannot deny.
Please, if you can, make the time to go to Fairy Creek and/or write to Premier John Horgan.
As well, even though forestry is a provincial jurisdiction, put the pressure on MP Patrick Weiler and the federal government, which campaigned on a platform of addressing climate change. What is happening in B.C.'s forests is a disgrace to all Canadians.
Katrina Nightingale // Mt. Currie
