Cathedral Grove peace shaky as protestors wait for government's next move

By Steven Heywood, Parksville Qualicum News. June 8, 2004.

Protesters could be back in MacMillan Park any day if the government chooses not to take its parking lot plans public, says one of the defendants in the province's failed injunction case.

Richard Boyce, a filmmaker and activist from Parksville, says people will continue to prevent logging in the park, also known as Cathedral Grove, as long as the government tries to push through its parking lot plans without a public hearing.

"Until the public has had some input and issues are clarified through some sort of hearing, people will continue to prevent work from taking place," he said.

Boyce, who also writes a bi-weekly environmental column for The News Weekender, was named as a defendant, among 100 Jane and John Does served with court documents in February, when the province went to the courts seeking an injunction to keep people away from the site of a proposed new parking lot.

Protesters were, and still are, calling on Water Land and Air Protection Minister Bill Barisoff to air those parking lot plans in a public forum.

Nanaimo Supreme Court Justice Georgina Quijano ruled against the province May 28, stating in brief that seeking an injunction against public protests should be a last resort.

"It was an excellent ruling," Boyce said. "It's a landmark decision that stems back to the days of Clayquot Sound. The judiciary is tired of government and corporations trying to prevent public say."

“This is a result of that, a reminder there’s an existing way, a public process.”

The Western Canada Wilderness Committee will be trying to hold Barisoff to the court ruling. Annette Tanner, a WCWC mid-Island representative, says they will be hand-delivering a letter to Barisoff’s office today, asking for a meeting within 10 days.

“We need to get on with how to include Cathedral Grove in a broader conservation plan for the Island,” Tanner said. “We want to get off on the right foot when it comes to issues like the Grove.”

The minister’s office and Alberni-Qualicum MLA Gillian Trumper are saying, however, they want to proceed with the new parking lot.

“We are not changing the plans,” said Trumper, who called the court ruling “a pain”.

“The current parking area is still a public safety issue. I am asked almost daily when the government is going to start (the project).”

Minister Bill Barisoff says his office is waiting for the Attorney General’s department to finish reviewing the ruling — in the meantime, work on the parking lot is on hold. He said he is willing to meet with people on the issue, but there’s a caveat.

“I have an open door philosophy,” he said. “But I think people have to understand, if we’re meeting just so they can say they don’t want to do something, that’s not the direction I’m taking.”

Barisoff said the parking lot issue has been before the public enough times over the last 10-plus years — and it still remains a safety concern.

Trumper said the public process on this matter has been going on for 12 years. However, she did add that once the province reviews the court decision, she will hold a public meeting about the parking lot.
Tanner said some people have given up on trying to meet government officials and Barisoff on the issue. However, she said WCWC is still trying — through letters and petitions — to get a meeting with the minister.

“The courts have said due process is in place,” she said. “Hopefully that message will trickle down to Barisoff’s office.”

So far, said Boyce, the government has chosen to ignore due process, which just might force people back into the Grove.

Barisoff said he hopes there won’t have to be any arrests in the Grove, but won’t rule it out.
“Groups shouldn’t take it upon themselves to create more safety concerns,” he said. “I hope there won’t be any arrests and I hope common sense prevails.

“We’re not doing something disastrously, environmentally bad.”