Constituents ramp up pressure on David Eby to protect old growth forests in B.C.

October 27, 2022
People are calling on B.C.’s Premier-Elect to follow through on his party’s old growth promises

*Shared on behalf of the Vancouver-Point Grey Constituency Group*

səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Territories (Vancouver, BC) — Vancouver Point Grey constituents and allies rallied outside Premier-Elect David Eby’s office today calling on him to take immediate action to stop all logging in the most at-risk old growth forests and urgently work towards the paradigm shift outlined in the Old Growth Strategic Report.

Photos and videos are available here for media use.

Last week when announcing his 100-day plan, Eby promised to accelerate action on old growth. Local constituents have been meeting with Eby as their MLA for years to encourage action on old growth. Today, just ahead of the 1 year anniversary of the Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel’s release on November 2, the demonstrators want to underscore specific steps Eby must take with the authority he has been granted to immediately deliver on the B.C. NDP’s long overdue promises for old growth forest protection.

“When we’ve spoken several times with David about the urgent need to halt old growth logging, he has responded with interest and questions. He understands the urgent need to protect Old Growth Forests,” said Vancouver-Point Grey Constituent Eric Schwartz.

“In this week’s Tyee interview Eby spoke about protecting our children’s Old Growth legacy and said he is ready to act with speed to end Old Growth Logging.” “David, you have told us many times that you need to clearly hear public support for government action. We are here outside your office today to give you and the BC government you will lead, public license to take urgent action to end Old Growth Logging in BC: Implement immediate deferrals for all at-risk old growth, provide fulsome and immediate financial support for First Nations to make deferrals a viable economic option and pursue Indigenous-led solutions; and urgently move toward the paradigm shift outlined in the Old Growth Strategic Review’s 14 recommendations.”

1.05 million of the 2.6 million hectares of deferral areas have been implemented, which is a welcome step in the right direction. But the government has not been transparent about how many deferrals have actually stopped planned logging, and recent on-the-ground and satellite documentation included in the analysis from Stand.earth Research Group has shown thousands of hectares of the most at-risk old growth has been destroyed by logging companies, as well as pipelines.

This analysis found that proposed old growth deferrals have been logged specifically to make way for the Coastal GasLink (CGL) fracked gas pipeline. In fact, TransCanada – which owns CGL – is ranked number 4 on the list of corporations with logging permits for the most at-risk remaining old growth. CGL is now drilling under the Wedzin Kwa (the river that is sacred to the Wet’suwet’en people) without the consent of hereditary Chiefs and community members as thousands of precious salmon spawn nearby.

This is happening as fires continue to burn across the province and salmon die in dried up creeks because of an unparalleled drought that was only broken this week. If we don’t also fight to end fracking in B.C., old growth will continue to be logged for fossil fuel expansion, Indigenous rights will remain threatened, and the climate and our communities will suffer. We need an end to status quo politics, and we’re calling on David Eby to honour the environmental commitments he has recently made.

“We all know we should protect old growth” said Bob Kull, constituent, “We need to recognize that we must protect it because the earth is literally our body. When we destroy old growth we are killing part of our body”.

In November 2021, British Columbia finally released detailed maps showing 2.6 million hectares of old growth forests across the province that needed to be immediately set aside from logging, through a process known as deferrals. A temporary ban on logging in the most at-risk old growth forests was meant to be the most urgent and straightforward of 14 recommendations on old growth that the provincial government promised to implement in 2020, as a step toward a paradigm-shift in forest management that fully upholds First Nations’ Title and Rights and centers ecological integrity. Two years into a three year timeline for those recommendations, old growth continues to be destroyed at alarming rates.

We are calling on the B.C. government to fulfill its promises and implement immediate deferrals for all at-risk old growth, provide fulsome and immediate financial support for First Nations to make deferrals a viable economic option and to pursue Indigenous-led solutions, and urgently move toward the paradigm shift outlined in the Old Growth Strategic Review’s 14 recommendations.

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Media contacts: canadamedia@stand.earth