TSN reports Len Barrie has sold Bear Mountain to Dubai group

by Zoe Blunt
Quick news roundup: It’s reported that Len Barrie has sold Bear
Mountain Resort to a Dubai real estate group. Also, the interchange
site is flooding badly, and we’re celebrating “The Joy of Dissent” in
Victoria on Friday, Feb. 13. Here’s the details.

Rumours have been flying for months, and there’s no official
confirmation, but The Sports Network reports: “Sources tell TSN Len
Barrie has sold Bear Mountain, a golf and real estate development in
British Columbia, for $500 million to a group from Dubai. The enormous
sale is expected to close in mid-February.” The Times Colonist adds:
“Barrie was unavailable for comment.” [$500 million represents about a quarter of the supposed $2 billion value of the resort.]

In 2006, Barrie outraged people across BC when he approved the
destruction of a sacred First Nations cave to build a golf course at
his resort in Langford, on Vancouver Island. A second sacred cave was
filled with concrete in 2008 when the city began building an overpass
to connect Highway 1 with Bear Mountain Parkway. Thousands of people
petitioned, rallied, and occupied trees near the second cave, but a
massive police raid on February 13, 2008, cleared the protestors out
and cordoned off the area while all the trees were cut down.

Today, massive flooding downstream from the overpass construction zone seems to indicate that engineers shouldn’t try to outsmart Mother Nature. Water pouring down from Skirt mountain overflowed drainage pits in the wetlands between the highway and Spencer’s Pond, drowning many of the remaining large hemlocks and the baby firs planted to partially replace the former forest. The water is cloudy from construction zone runoff, especially from the on and off ramps made of fill dirt half a kilometer long and up to 50 feet high – and the silt is likely to choke the red-legged frogs and tree frogs that live and
breed in Spencer’s Pond. The rest of Langford has mostly dried out
from this week’s floods, but the lake along the highway has nowhere to go. The entire basin – about half a kilometer square – is under many
meters of muddy water.

The prevailing opinion is that Langford and Bear Mountain “won” the
battle for the interchange. If true, it’s a bitter victory, given that
both have dug themselves a massive financial hole in the midst of an
economic meltdown. For one thing, all construction has stopped on the
mountain “indefinitely” and many hundreds of people have been laid
off. In any case, I don’t agree that they “won.” The tree sit crew and
our thousands of supporters never conceded defeat, and there are still
more sacred sites to protect on that mountain.

For the anniversary of the police raid at Langford Lake Cave, we’re
celebrating the unbeatable spirit of the tree sit and the incredible
energy and unity of this movement. Please join us February 13 as we
kick off “The Joy of Dissent,” a series of events, music, discussions
and stimulating multimedia, looking back at the past year and ahead to
2010.

The Joy of Dissent
Friday, February 13, Camas Books (2590 Quadra St, Victoria)
5 pm – potluck with Food Not Bombs
Celebration of the Bear Mountain Tree Sit and The Joy of Dissent
6 pm – The Stimulator, Live!
Frank “The Stimulator” Lopez of subMedia.tv discusses “Media Activism
in a Police State” and fills us in on how he got the story, and got
away with it too. Find out why we’re recruiting “video ninjas” to
report on the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
7 pm – “Ground Noise & Static,” subMedia and PepperSpray Productions’ video about the crackdown on dissent at the Republican and Democratic National Convention(30 minutes) followed by more discussion. http://submedia.tv
8 pm – Live Beats and Jams with the Outspoken Wordsmiths, dancing and socializing ’til 11 pm. (More details to be announced.)

Plus – retro bike auction, 50/50 draw, fine art raffle and lots more!
All ages – accessible – admission by donation. Proceeds benefit
subMedia and Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network.

Thanks to everyone for your unbeatable help! (For those who would
rather not get this email, please send me a note that says
“unsubscribe.”) Volunteers are always welcome to get in touch!

For the frogs,

Zoe

More info:
http://treesit.blogspot.com
http://www.spencerspond.ca
http://forestaction.ca
ZoeBlunt@gmail.com