One protester was arrested Monday morning after blocking traffic on the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.
Vancouver police said the 37-year-old woman refused to move out of the way so she was taken to jail.
The woman is a member of the group Supporters of Save Old Growth, which wants the provincial government to end old-growth logging in B.C.
“I am way past worrying about public and police reaction to our activities. We’re going to remain nonviolent and fight for a liveable future in a manner that is proportionate to the emergency we face,” Julia Torgerson, a spokesperson with Save Old Growth, said in a release.
Members of the group staged a series of disruptive demonstrations, blocking roadways in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island last week.
Two protesters were arrested last Wednesday at a protest that blocked the Trans-Canada Highway on Vancouver Island. They are now facing criminal charges.
Save Old Growth is calling for a comprehensive ban on harvesting all old-growth trees, but not on logging in general. On its website, it says the blockades are “part of an ongoing escalation to demand an end to old-growth logging.”
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“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,” the group said in a media release on Thursday.
Protesters also blocked traffic on the Ironworkers Bridge last Thursday and some drivers became so frustrated they dragged the protesters to the side of the bridge themselves.
In addition, one of the protesters is now on day 25 of a hunger strike in support of ending old-growth logging.
Howard Breen, 68, said he was briefly hospitalized on the 24th day but he plans to go without food until the end of the month.
He told The Canadian Press he spent three hours in a Nanaimo hospital after what he calls a “deathwatch team” noted he had blurred vision, loss of balance and back pain around the kidneys.
Breen has vowed to continue his hunger strike until the end, according to Save Old Growth.
Another protester, Brent Eichler, is on day 32 of his hunger strike and is beginning to feel difficulty in walking, the group added.
They were contacted by the minister of forests, Katrine Conroy, but were told she can’t agree to their demand, Save Old Growth said in a press release.
They are reportedly asking Conroy if she is willing to let two British Columbians die in her name.
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