The Police Are Arresting the Protestors While The Government Warns People Not to Drink the Water

According to the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper:

 

A Local Hero Is Arrested

Island Health issued a do-not-use-water advisory Friday due to “a suspected overflow of water” from the landfill site owned by Cobble Hill Holdings Ltd. The company has a permit to accept and store up to 100,000 tonnes of contaminated soil a year at its Stebbings Road quarry uphill from Shawnigan Lake. The advisory warned people against drawing water from the south end of the lake for drinking, bathing, personal hygiene or food preparation. Medical Health Officer Dr. Murray Fyfe said Island Health issued the advisory after receiving reports from the Environment Ministry about water leaving the landfill site. It was unclear whether the water was run-off, or whether there had been a breach of the site’s containment system, Fyfe said.

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At the same time, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a police force with a sad and sorry reputation, are arresting the local residents who are attempting to protect their drinking water. 

According to the Times Colonist newspaper:

In protest, residents blocked the entrance to the landfill Monday morning, turning aside a fuel truck and construction vehicle.

NDP Leader John Horgan, who questioned Polak in the legislature, called the Island Health advisory “the worst nightmare” for Shawnigan residents and urged the government to halt soil deliveries to the landfill.

“Clearly, the water advisory on Friday puts the lie to everything the minister has said over the past two years,” he said.

Polak countered that ministry officials, who approve and enforce permits free of political interference, will remain vigilant. “With permits that are dealing with very serious substances, it is important at all times to be cautious,” she said. “It is also important not to sow panic where we should not.”

B.C. Green Party MLA Andrew Weaver, meanwhile, called for an emergency debate of the issue in the legislature.

“Enough already,” he said in an interview. “Who’s liable? I think the ministry is liable for issuing permits when these people here, who are standing up for their rights to have access to fresh water, are taking essentially the government to court protect it. The government is absent. There’s a dereliction of duty, and heads should roll over this.’ ”

Another Local Hero Is Arrested