BURNABY, B.C. – The City of Burnaby is evicting protesters from a make-shift camp set up outside one of Kinder Morgan’s terminals, citing fire safety and public health concerns.
City manager Lambert Chu says the city is worried about how the footprint of the site, dubbed Camp Cloud, has grown to include a two-level wood structure, additional tents and even shower facilities.
“We’ve been trying to work with the camp occupants and seek compliance with no success and that’s why we had to take the step of issuing the eviction notice,” Chu said.
The Metro Vancouver city issued a 72-hour eviction notice Wednesday.
The notice does not apply to the Watch House, which a separate group of protesters working under the banner “Protect the Inlet” has erected in the woods just outside the terminal.
No one from Camp Cloud, made up of Indigenous protesters and environmentalists, was immediately available for comment.
In videos posted to Facebook, Kwitsel Tatel identifies herself as the camp’s court monitor.
She says there are no public safety issues related to the camp, which formed in order to educate the public about water protection.
“We’re asking now for clean water to be protected for all living things, for all people for all time,” she says in the video.
In March, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that both Camp Cloud and the Watch House could remain in place in response to a court injunction filed by Kinder Morgan.
Tatel says the eviction notice violates both that court order and Indigenous rights on the land.
The city is seeking legal advice about how the court order might affect enforcement of the eviction notice, Chu said.