Camp Cloud is no more. Burnaby RCMP moved in on the pipeline protest camp outside of the Trans Mountain tank farm at Underhill Avenue and Shellmont Street early Thursday morning.
Mounties arrived at about 5:40 a.m. Thursday and removed 11 individuals from the camp. Among those removed, five were arrested and processed before being released on a promise to appear. The NOW was one of only two media outlets to witness the arrests.
#BREAKING Burnaby RCMP have descended on Camp Cloud and begun arresting protesters. Soon after this video was taken police told me and one other member of the media to leave the area and threatened us with arrest. #bcpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/F7NC5tGL4E
— KelvinGawley (@KelvinGawley) August 16, 2018
At a press conference later on Thursday, the Burnaby RCMP said five of those arrested face breach of injunction charges.
Tsastilqualus, one of the protesters, said there was panic at the camp when police arrived.
“It was hard to stay calm because of the manner that they came in. I mean they came in breaking things down, they had helmets on, they all had guns on them, and we’re peaceful people – there was no reason for that to happen,” she said.
Those who resisted, including Tsastilqualus, were taken away in sitting stretchers.
Tsastilqualus explains what went through her head when police ripped up the hill and began arresting people. pic.twitter.com/WQe2MLWFWN
— KelvinGawley (@KelvinGawley) August 16, 2018
“It went very smoothly,” said Burnaby RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Daniela Panesar. “Everything happened really smoothly. There were no injuries, no violence. It went very well.”
The eviction of protesters from the camp came six days after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Gomery granted the City of Burnaby an injunction ordering protesters to remove all structures, shelters and vehicles from the site within 48 hours – a time window that passed on Sunday.
Of particular concern to Gomery was the camp’s sacred fire, which had been burning 24-7.
“I’m very troubled by the fire,” said Gomery. “I think it’s been approximately a month since the Lower Mainland has seen any rain at all. I’m going to make that order, and I don’t think that there should be any significant delay in putting that fire out.”
RCMP announced that a homeless mother and her two children were among those discovered living at the camp.
Camp Cloud was set up in November outside the entrance to the Trans Mountain tank farm to protest the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs from Edmonton to Burnaby.
Since then, Camp Cloud has grown from a single trailer to include a two-storey wooden structure, a cabin, an outdoor shower, more than a dozen tents and multiple vehicles and trailers.
City of Burnaby director of corporate services Dipak Dattani told reporters the city has been trying for months to get Camp Cloud to abide by city bylaws to no avail.
“We were then forced to take a very formal approach and started posting notices for non-compliance of the bylaw,” Dattani said outside the camp Thursday, “and, as you may have seen in the media, they were not receptive to that. We gave them 72 hours’ notice for compliance; they didn’t comply with that, so we had to go through the courts.”
Shortly after the protesters were removed from the camp, city crews moved in with heavy machinery and began tearing down the ramshackle structures.
Other city workers were there to do an inventory of all the items left behind, according to Dattani.
“Once we identify that everything is safe and ready to go, we’ll start taking a stock of information, taking photographs and removing the materials and then looking at dismantling,” he added.
It’s unknown how long the operation will take.
As of Thursday afternoon, at least one of the structures – a two-storey building known as the carver’s cabin – had been demolished.
“They can remove some of us, they can arrest some of us, but more and more people will take their place because citizens from all walks of life are concerned about this project. We’ve seen Burnaby residents arrested here on the mountain, we’ve seen members of Parliament, we’ve seen teachers and scientists, and more and more will come every day if they continue to try and construct this pipeline against the wishes of the community,” environmentalist and Stand.earth director Tzeporah Berman told the NOW as police and city crews moved in.
In March, another Supreme Court judge allowed a separate protest structure known as the Watch House to remain in place in response to a court injunction application from Kinder Morgan. It remains unaffected by last Friday’s ruling.
Underhill Avenue, north of Forest Grove Drive, and Shellmont Street, east of Meadowbrook Park, is closed at this time while Burnaby RCMP and the City of Burnaby dismantle Camp Cloud.
