People of all ages and backgrounds took their protest to the premier’s doorstep.
Several hundred people gathered outside Premier John Horgan’s constituency office in Langford Friday to decry the provincial government’s decision to allow the logging of old-growth trees at Fairy Creek. The group later marched along Goldstream Avenue to the West Shore RCMP detachment, with many people in vehicles along the way honking and waving in support.
Many seniors and children, some carrying signs, joined protesters from Trees for Tomorrow, a youth-led organization, and climate activists with Our Earth Our Future in listening to speakers and drumming dedicated to protecting old-growth forests.
Brentwood Bay resident Lachlan Palmer carried a cut from a tree at Bugaboo Creek that bore the message, “this tree should be living.”
Palmer, a pipe-fitter by trade, said he would have liked to have joined the protest in Port Renfrew today but his schedule wouldn’t allow that.
“The trees are worth more standing,” he said. “It’s a beautiful area, and it’s also very important to local First Nations. We’re not anti-industry or against logging. There are lots of trees on the Island that can be logged. We’re just asking that they protect the old-growth trees in an intact watershed, the last of its kind.”
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rick.stiebel@goldstreamgazette.com
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