Extra security was on hand Thursday morning at the BC Council of Forest Industries convention after Save Old Growth activists said they were planning to stage another protest – a citizen’s arrest of B.C.’s forest minister.
“We know there are people worried about these tactics,” Forest Minister Katrine Conroy said. “We have heard from moms trying to get to doctor’s appointments and they can’t. We know there are moms trying to get kids to cancer treatments. It goes beyond the pale.”
Conroy’s home phone number was also posted online recently, which she said has led to her receiving harassing calls.
“When we sign up for this we know there is going to be issues like this,” Conroy said of her choice to enter politics. “But what concerns me is it is affecting our families. You shouldn’t be harassing people’s families.”
Save Old Growth protesters have been staging regular protests recently, with the latest action blocking traffic at Grandview Highway in Vancouver Wednesday morning. Four of the protesters were arrested.
The group is demanding an end to old-growth logging through legislative change.
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It says it will not be deterred from escalating action, even though drivers and commuters are becoming frustrated by the disruption.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry was assigned a security detail as protests escalated.
“What we have seen during the pandemic and even more recently is protests that are closer to home,” Gerald Baier, a UBC political scientist told Global News.
“I think there is a willingness, I think, and it just ramps up the security details.”
CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly used an image of a protest, which was not connected to the Save Old Growth protests. Global News regrets the error.
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