Gathering at Fairy Creek blockade, May 28,
2021.
A large portion of the towering old growth
forests in British Columbia have been cut
down. The provincial government has done
nothing to stop the forest companies from
pushing ahead with this activity. Far from it,
the government has facilitated clear-cutting,
despite all sorts of promises that were made
to protect the old growth forests, and has
authorized the RCMP to arrest protesters.
Since obtaining
a majority government in the election, despite
promises made during the election to defer
development in old growth forests, Horgan has
refused to stop the cutting of old growth
trees, leading to many protests across the
province. Environmental groups say it's the
same old "talk and log" tactic of previous
governments. Well over 100,000 people have
signed petitions calling for the protection of
old growth forests, including an e-petition
presented to the House of Commons by Paul
Manly, Green MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith. One of
several current online petitions to the
provincial government now has over 94,000
names, increasing daily. For the last few
months, especially since April 1, there have
been rallies and demonstrations throughout the
province in support of the blockades. On May
29 hundreds of people passed through an RCMP
blockade to access and reclaim one of the
camps.
Some of the more than 75 seniors who
car-pooled two hours from Victoria to support
the blockades on May 25, 2021.
Besides breaking an election promise Premier
Horgan is justifying the use of the courts and
police to secure Teal-Jones' access to log the
old growth with the same excuse his government
used to justify unleashing the RCMP against
the Wet'suwet'en land defenders in January of
2020. According to him, it is a matter of 'law
and order.' He justifies his government's
inaction on the 14 recommendations on the
grounds that it takes time "to get it right on
balancing jobs and the environment."
What is at stake here, the underlying
problem, is that forestry policy is decided by
the monopolies and implemented by successive
governments, whether Liberal or NDP. Workers,
Indigenous nations, forestry communities and
the people of the province as a whole have no
say whatsoever but are expected to, year after
year, stand back and watch the forest being
mowed down in clear-cuts and silently accept
the consequences including damage to
watersheds, wildlife and the stability of
mountainsides, all for the narrow interests
and profits of the big forest companies.
As the forest
resource is depleted, the forest companies
have abandoned any notion of value-added
manufacturing and, with few exceptions, have
turned their operations on Vancouver Island
into harvesting and shipping raw logs to
foreign buyers. After profiting for years from
BC forests, many companies have moved their
manufacturing operations to the U.S. and
elsewhere. Teal-Jones itself has built a
planer mill in Sumas, Washington and purchased
sawmills in Oklahoma and Virginia.
The fight for sustainable forestry in BC and
a new direction for the economy based on
upholding the hereditary rights of Indigenous
nations, meeting the needs of the people,
creating jobs, and protecting the environment
has been ongoing for decades. Civil
disobedience actions such as blockades are
actions of resistance to industry and
government dictate, an expression of the fact
that the government is not doing its duty to
uphold the people's right to be and the people
have to do it themselves. To criminalize the
voice of the people is an act of cowardice
because it is not based on the duty of
government to create and represent a public
opinion but on the imperialist edict that
might makes right. Once governments prove
themselves incapable of sorting out
differences on a peaceful basis and resort to
brute force, it is a sure sign that the people
have no alternative but to persist in securing
their right to have a say in the matters that
affect them, in what happens to the forest
resource and how to organize the economy so
that the hereditary rights of the Indigenous
peoples and the claims of the forestry
communities for a livelihood and the
requirements of Mother Earth are served
by governments, not sacrificed to serve narrow
private aims.
This article was published in
June 2, 2021 - No 52
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08524.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
