When protesters blocked southbound lanes of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge during Thursday’s commute, it appears some drivers became very frustrated.
The six protesters, with the group Save Old Growth, were dragged off to the side of the bridge by some commuters.
Vancouver police were soon on the scene to clear the protesters and allow traffic to move again, police said in a release.
“Demonstrators who block vital pieces of infrastructure, like bridges and major intersections, put themselves in danger and create a safety risk for the rest of the public,” Const. Tania Visintin said.
“We know these incidents frustrate the public, and we thank everyone for their patience while VPD responded to this protest.”
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A 24-year-old woman was arrested and taken to jail, Visintin added.
The group, Save Old Growth, has staged protests on a number of roadways in B.C. recently.
This is its 10th direct action in Vancouver this month and 84 people have been arrested in the province since January in Vancouver, Revelstoke, Victoria and Nanaimo.
“We’re done being afraid. We won’t stop until the government passes legislation to end all old-growth logging,” Julia Torgerson, a spokesperson for the group said in a release.
“This is not a big demand, we’ve only got 2.7 per cent of the productive old-growth left. Killing the last of these ancient trees is a death sentence for millions of Canadians due to ecological breakdown.”
A member of the group, Howard Breen, is on day 21 of his hunger strike and will stop drinking liquids in protest on Earth Day, which is risky to his life, the group said.
Another member, who is on day 28 of his hunger strike, said the hundreds of people dying during the heat dome last summer shows humanity is not doing enough to combat climate change.
“We are entering the darkest age of human history, and facing mass starvation as we approach a two degrees increase in global average temperatures. The BC government is aiding in the destruction of the country,” Brent Eichler said in a release.
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Anti-logging demonstrators briefly block Lions Gate Bridge during morning commute -
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B.C.’s top court reinstates old-growth logging protest injunction -
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B.C. First Nations reach deal to defer old-growth logging -
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B.C. unveils plans to defer logging of old-growth forests -
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B.C. forest industry calls old-growth logging deferrals ‘devastating’ -
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Industry warns deferrals will have major consequences on B.C. forests -
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British Columbia announces 2.6 million hectares of old-growth forest will be preserved -
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Environmentalists and forest industry debate carbon benefits of B.C.’s coastal old-growth rainforests -
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B.C. legislature returns for fall session, old-growth logging protesters hold sit-in
A court injunction against old-growth logging protests on Vancouver Island was extended in January until next fall in a British Columbia Court of Appeal decision that overturns a lower-court ruling.
A panel of three judges granted the appeal by forestry company Teal Cedar Products Ltd. of a B.C. Supreme Court decision that denied the company’s application to extend the injunction by one year.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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