BC’s “protesting grandpa” is back in the news after an early-morning arrest in Burnaby on Wednesday.
In a statement, 71-year-old Terry Christenson said he was arrested while attempting to swim into Trans Mountain’s Westridge Terminal in Burnaby.
BREAKING: This morning I was arrested attempting to climb a barge at the Westridge Terminal of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. When #TMX was approved, they knew to expect more protests. Here’s the press release. #cdnpoli #StopTransMountain pic.twitter.com/3mizmjNSwO
— protestinggrandpa (@grandpa_protest) July 10, 2019
Christenson claims he was planning to hang a “No Tankers” banner from the top of a crane in the terminal to send a message that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is a “disaster in waiting.”
According to Burnaby RCMP, the protesting grandpa entered the property from the waters of Burrard Inlet, and was wearing a wetsuit and snorkel gear.
It’s not Richardson’s first run in with police in BC.
In April, he was arrested after spending 34-hours perched in a tree.
The Trans Mountain Pipeline was reapproved by Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in June after the federal courts turned down the original approval due to incomplete Indigenous consultations and a faulty environmental review.
