Thursday, July 17, 2025
ADVT 
National

B.C. extends deferral of logging in Fairy Creek amid reports of tree spiking

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Jan, 2025 11:07 AM
  • B.C. extends deferral of logging in Fairy Creek amid reports of tree spiking

The British Columbia government has approved a legal order to extend temporary protections to an old-growth forest on Vancouver Island even as the minister of forests acknowledged that the RCMP are investigating reports of tree spiking in the area. 

Ravi Parmar said he was informed of the reports last week, calling the news of such vandalism "incredibly alarming."

Spikes are typically metal and can injure or even kill a person who attempts to cut down or mill the tree. 

"I want to be very crystal clear to British Columbians, anyone who goes out and spikes a tree, puts the lives of forestry workers on the line, risks their safety, potential death each and every day, I want to condemn these actions," Parmar told reporters on Wednesday.

The minister said spiking is a "dangerous criminal activity" that puts health and safety of forestry workers at risk, adding that the province immediately notified both the forestry licensee and the local First Nation. 

“It is outrageous that individuals and the groups they are connected to feel that causing serious injury to workers furthers their cause," said Brian Butler, president of United Steelworkers Local 1-1937.

The Fairy Creek area received international attention in recent years due to protests after logging permits were granted in 2020. This allowed the cutting of timber, including old-growth trees, in areas in and around the Fairy Creek watershed.

Almost 1,200 opponents of old-growth logging were arrested at Fairy Creek for defying court orders preventing interference with harvesting operations. 

The Teal-Jones Group, whose tree farm licence covers the Fairy Creek area, said in a 2022 statement that spikes had been found in trees logged from the area. 

It said that while they have measures to detect spiked logs, one made it through and the blade hit the metal spike, destroying the saw and nearly hitting a worker, which could have killed him.

The provincial government's announcement that it granted a logging deferral extension to Sept. 30, 2026, applies to the order that was first issued in 2021. It follows the first extension that expires Feb. 1 of this year and came at the request of the Pacheedaht First Nation, whose territories encompass the entire watershed.

"We have their support as they do the important work of developing an integrated resource management plan, which will decide the fate of their territories as it relates to forestry in the days and weeks and months ahead," Parmar said, adding they've still got some work to do and need more time.

The Forests Ministry says the deferral protects almost 1,200 hectares or Crown land in the Fairy Creek watershed.

It says the protections will allow for continued discussions about the long-term management of the watershed with the Pacheedaht First Nation, adding that the move is "consistent with government's commitments to reconciliation and to protecting British Columbia's oldest and rarest forest ecosystems."

MORE National ARTICLES

Federal government using AI to tackle Phoenix backlog as it tests replacement system

Federal government using AI to tackle Phoenix backlog as it tests replacement system
The federal government is expanding its use of artificial intelligence to clear a backlog of Phoenix pay system transactions as it transitions to a new platform. Alex Benay, associate deputy minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, says his team will be able to share a recommendation with the government on whether it should adopt the Dayforce system as its new human resources and payroll platform by the end of March. 

Federal government using AI to tackle Phoenix backlog as it tests replacement system

Edmonton school board, union for support staff head back to bargaining table

Edmonton school board, union for support staff head back to bargaining table
The union representing school support workers in Edmonton says it has returned to the bargaining table with the city's public school board. Some 3,000 staff, from educational assistants to cafeteria workers, have been on picket lines since Jan. 13 over a wage dispute with the Edmonton Public School Board.

Edmonton school board, union for support staff head back to bargaining table

Escaped prison inmate arrested in Saskatchewan after three weeks

Escaped prison inmate arrested in Saskatchewan after three weeks
RCMP say an inmate has been arrested three weeks after he escaped from a federal prison in Saskatchewan. Mounties say they were searching for Glen Halkett in the Rosthern, Sask., area and spotted him as a passenger in a vehicle with three others. 

Escaped prison inmate arrested in Saskatchewan after three weeks

Six migrants found crossing border on foot in freezing temperatures: Manitoba RCMP

Six migrants found crossing border on foot in freezing temperatures: Manitoba RCMP
Mounties in Manitoba say six people from multiple countries were caught last week trying to illegally cross into Canada from the United States. Police say the group was spotted from the air crossing the border on foot near Emerson on Jan. 14. 

Six migrants found crossing border on foot in freezing temperatures: Manitoba RCMP

Vancouver mayor proposes pause on new supportive housing in Downtown Eastside

Vancouver mayor proposes pause on new supportive housing in Downtown Eastside
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has unveiled a plan to revitalize the city's troubled Downtown Eastside, including pausing the construction of net new supportive housing units. Sim told a Save Our Streets forum, held by a coalition of groups concerned about crime and public safety in B.C., that the proposal is one of three key policy shifts being planned to transform the Downtown Eastside.

Vancouver mayor proposes pause on new supportive housing in Downtown Eastside

U.S. tariff threat adds urgency for B.C.'s energy independence: minister

U.S. tariff threat adds urgency for B.C.'s energy independence: minister
British Columbia Energy Minister Adrian Dix says the looming threat of American tariffs raises the stakes for boosting the province's energy independence. Dix says there was urgency before the U.S. election last November, but "there's more now" as American President Donald Trump threatens to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.

U.S. tariff threat adds urgency for B.C.'s energy independence: minister