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City of Burnaby issues eviction notice to pipeline protest camp

Campers are being asked to immediately remove the entire camp
Camp cloud
Camp Cloud. File photo

The City of Burnaby has issued an eviction notice to the Camp Cloud protest camp outside the Trans Mountain tank farm on Burnaby Mountain.

The notice is ordering campers to immediately take down the entire camp, including trailers, wooden structures, a shower and a two-storey carver’s cabin currently under construction

The city has been unsuccessful in bringing the camp under compliance, as it continues to violate multiple bylaws, according to the notice. The notice also says dogs must be “leashed and properly supervised."

“The right of protest cannot be exercised in a way that is in conflict or breach of the City of Burnaby’s bylaws, or that causes a public nuisance to the residents of nearby neighbourhoods,” reads the eviction notice.

City manager Lambert Chu said requests for campers to snuff out a ceremonial fire have become more urgent now that there is a fire ban in place.

He said the city is seeking legal advice to determine what it can do to enforce the eviction notice. Chu said he is unsure if and when the Burnaby RCMP would be called in to forcibly remove protesters.

“I cannot comment on the possibility of an injunction and the enforcement details that will be considered by the city,” Chu said.

The notice demands that campers comply immediately with the demands and, Chu said there will be a “follow-up enforcement measures” 72 hours after it was issued (Saturday morning).

Earlier this week, Mayor Derek Corrigan told the Now that the city was readying to crack down on Camp Cloud. 

“This has gone far beyond simply peaceful protest to a point where people in the community, justifiably, have had enough,” he said.

Kwitsel Tatel, the camp’s court monitor, said she and her fellow protesters would not be leaving the site at the corner of Shellmont Street and Underhill Avenue.

“I will not be complying with this eviction notice because the City of Burnaby has no jurisdiction over myself, as an Indigenous and unceded Coast Salish woman,” she said.

Police were on scene when bylaw officers gave the notice to campers this morning to keep the peace, according to an RCMP spokesperson.