The sign at the makeshift camp counting the number of days FarmWatch has protested outside a Finn Road farm is in need of updating.
"We didn't figure on being here this long," said longtime Richmond farmer Ray Galawan. "Someone is coming by with a new sign so we can have a third number added."
On April 25, Galawan and other members of FarmWatch reach the 100th day of their around-the-clock presence just outside the farm where a road is being constructed to establish a tree nursery.
Farmwatch contends the road is improperly using demolition waste materials - oversized pieces of concrete, asphalt and rebar - that have harmed the high quality soil on the property. Galawan said the FarmWatch camp will stay on site at least through the provincial election on May 14, and perhaps even beyond if the need persists to maintain vigil over what is being dumped on the soil.
The firm leasing the land, Bill Jones Horticulture, has stated it is doing nothing illegal and is following all conditions and instructions from the Agricultral Land Commission (ALC), which is responsible for overseeing farm practices in the province.
The firm also launched legal action against Galawan and fellow FarmWatch member Bob Featherstone, another long-time local farmer whose family once farmed the property being protested.
Galawan is being sued for $15,000 for disruption to the business and another $10,000 for damage to reputation through defamation.
Featherstone faces a similar claim which stems from a blockade of the property FarmWatch set up to prevent waste materials from being brought to the site.
The blockade back in January gave way to the roadside camp that has kept a close watch on what kinds of materials are being trucked to the site.
But FarmWatch members remain concerned the road being constructed is not only using improper materials, but at 30 feet wide is twice the width it should be, and is being laid down diagonally across the property which consumes more farmland than necessary.
"It's a completely unacceptable practice," said Kimi Hendess, another FarmWatch member. "And we assumed the Agricultural Land Commission would have the kind of teeth in place that would be able to stop it. But clearly, they don't."
Galawan said he is hoping to make the situation become apparent on the radar of those candidates seeking a provincial MLA's seat.
Some have dropped by the site to get up to speed with the situation, but Galawan is hoping that will translate into increased public discussion during the campaign on doorsteps as well as all candidates meetings.
"We'd like this to become a political issue because basically what we've learned is that need political change," Hendess added. "And we need people to be asking their politicians what they are doing to protect farmland."
