Trans Mountain protesters occupying Burnaby trees ‘under siege’ after fence erected

Sept. 8 2021

Tree sitters aiming to block the Trans Mountain pipeline route in a Burnaby forest say they are “under siege” after contractors erected blue fencing around their protest site on Tuesday.

*This story has been updated with a response from Trans Mountain and events that took place on Wednesday morning.

Tree sitters aiming to block the Trans Mountain pipeline route in a Burnaby forest say they are “under siege” after contractors erected blue fencing around their protest site on Tuesday.

Tree sitters have been taking turns being up in the trees for more than a year at a site located just west of North Road in Burnaby. Trans Mountain is looking to cut down more than 1,300 trees along the Brunette River.

The protesters say the fencing is blocking access to people who bring supplies such as food and water to them on a regular basis, and claim it’s an attempt to “starve” them out. People who tried to drop off supplies on Tuesday night were prevented from doing so by on-site security, but on Wednesday morning, with members of the media present, including the NOW, they were allowed to cross.

Tree sitters have included Maureen Curran, the federal Green candidate running in Burnaby South, who occupied one of the trees on Labour Day.

Curran says that a physical extraction of protesters from the tree will be difficult for several reasons.

“For one, the canopy is tied up with a spiderweb of ropes, which may deter arborists. Also the surrounding terrain is steep and thickly vegetated, with no even ground. The treetop camp itself is fortified in such a way that makes the trees difficult to climb.”

Timothée Govare, one of the tree sitters, said in a news release: “Speaking on behalf of our grassroots coalition, we are here for future generations and for the trees; for everyone and for all life. Trudeau may have authorized the destruction of our first two treehouses at Holmes Creek, and authorized the extinction of salmon runs and endangered species along the pipeline route, but we will keep coming back. We won’t back down. Our commitment to delay or cancel construction of this project is unshakable.”

The NOW asked Trans Mountain why the fencing had been put in place and received an emailed statement.

“When it comes to our operations and construction sites, safety is our first priority - safety of our workers, communities and everyone near our facilities,” said the statement. “And to that end, we will make every effort to ensure we can carry out our work and operations safely. This includes fencing around construction sites as seen in the Brunette River area which will remain in place until construction is complete.”

Some trees are now being cut down using chainsaws below where the protesters are occupying trees. 

“Trans Mountain respects the right to peaceful, lawful expressions of opinions,” said Trans Mountain. “There is a B.C. Supreme Court injunction in place that prevents the blocking or obstructing of access to Trans Mountain’s work sites and work areas throughout British Columbia.”

[Top photo: Tree sitters aiming to block the Trans Mountain pipeline route in a Burnaby forest say they are “under siege” after contractors erected blue fencing around their protest site on Tuesday.@Honu139/Twitter]