LAKE COWICHAN, B.C. — Remote forest areas of southern Vancouver Island were the scene of more arrests as police continue to enforce a British Columbia Supreme Court injunction against anti-logging protesters camped in the wilderness.
RCMP Cpl. Chris Manseau says in a news release that five people were arrested Wednesday, bringing the total number who have been arrested to 12 since Tuesday.
He says four were arrested for breaching the injunction order and a fifth person was arrested for obstruction after allegedly failing to abide by the lawful direction of police.
Manseau says two people who locked themselves to a bridge in the area would be arrested once they are removed.
Of the dozen arrests, Manseau says nine have been for breaching the injunction and three for obstruction.
Dozens of Mounties have converged on camps along remote logging roads south of Lake Cowichan to enforce the civil injunction to allow Teal-Jones Cedar to start logging activities.
Protesters have been camping and staging blockades in forest areas between Port Renfrew and Lake Cowichan in a bid to stop logging in the region, which they say is home to the last unprotected, intact old-growth forest valley on southern Vancouver Island.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2021.
The Canadian Press
