At least 50 people from Horizons Restaurant are out of work thanks to the police blockade on Burnaby Mountain, although Kinder Morgan is in talks with the business about compensation.
One server, Tessa Harper, is wondering when she'll be back at work.
"I'm worried about how I'm going to pay my rent," she told the NOW. "It's scary. I'm thinking of going to the food bank."
Harper lives in Burnaby Heights and has worked at Horizons for the past seven years. She's been out of work since last Thursday, when police blocked off Centennial Way, which is the only road access to the Burnaby Mountain restaurant.
"Now I'm going into a week without work," she told the NOW. "I have no income coming in."
According to Harper, 54 people are out of work while the restaurant remains closed. Many employees are Burnaby residents, and some are single parents.
"The RCMP said the said the road will be blocked for the next 10 days or until Kinder Morgan finishes work," Harper said.
Mounties are only allowing police vehicles up Centennial Way, as protesters continue to rally while Kinder Morgan work crews drill for soil samples.
"I don't blame the protesters, I wouldn't say anything about the police. They are trying to keep people safe," Harper said. "It's hard to understand why Kinder Morgan can do their business and we can't do ours. We just want to work."
The NOW contacted the restaurant and the company that owns Horizons, but calls were not immediately returned.
Ali Hounsell, a spokesperson with the Trans Mountain expansion team, told the NOW the company is in contact with Horizons regarding compensation, but she couldn't reveal too many details at this time.
"At the end of the day, we will be talking with them about compensation," Hounsell said. "Right now, the extent of that is not fully understood yet, so it would be kind of preliminary to put any numbers or understand that because the work is still ongoing. Essentially, what is causing the disruption is the closure of the road and the protesters there, so we'll have to wait till things are sort of settled to figure out that fully."
Hounsell explained that it's not unusual for the company to compensate businesses experiencing disruption.
"Generally those are private negotiations and discussions," she said. "If there's a desire to have some kind of interim solution as well, we'd be open to that."
