“We will keep our eyes on the mountain,” says Polar Bear. 8 that has been extended until a final decision is issued. Supreme Court refused to extend the Teal-Jones injunction on protesters, citing RCMP enforcement tactics as a “substantial infringement of civil liberties.” But an appeal gave the forestry company a temporary injunction on Oct.
Protesters enjoyed a short-lived victory on Sept. Through the pandemic, summer heatwaves, destructive flooding and recent frigid temperatures, protesters have not wavered in their attempts to stop old-growth logging by local timber company Teal-Jones Group, which has been operating in British Columbia for more than 70 years. Interactions with police, remembered as friendly at Clayoquot, have been more fractious and violent.
Demonstrations here are Indigenous-led and are fighting for Indigenous rights as well as old-growth trees. The protests evoke memories of the Clayoquot Sound “War in the Woods” further north on Vancouver Island in the early 1990s, which led to the establishment of a United Nations biosphere reserve.īut Fairy Creek is different from Clayoquot Sound in important ways. The Indigenous-led Fairy Creek protest on southern Vancouver Island, active since August 2020 and with 1,188 arrests so far, is the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. “A lot of people have been brutalized by cops. “It’s really hard to adapt in this environment,” Polar Bear says. (He’s not Indigenous himself.) They are gathered at Fairy Creek HQ for a night to recharge and share stories. He has now been protesting old-growth logging for more than 215 straight days, braving the elements with a diehard group of Indigenous leaders and environmentalists. Polar Bear, as he wishes to be known, is worried the RCMP are watching and rubs his worn hands and scarred forearms. It has been raining and snowing for days and the drifts are knee-deep on the mountain near the protestors’ headquarters, a rough assembly of tents, tarps and vehicles abutting a barrier to local logging roads. The 30-year-old protester has just hiked down to Fairy Creek headquarters from a stint watching over the trees in the old-growth forest. Polar Bear pulls up his scarf to hide his face and paces to keep warm.
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