Tree-Sit Coming to an End
September 11, 2004

Clarence. Photo by Hamilton IMC.

Clarence and the Claw

The four and a half month tree-sit in Red Hill Valley will end next Saturday when 'Clarence' will return to the ground after 112 days living on a bed-sized platform. Organizers of the protest are asking valley supporters to join them at noon on September 18, but have not yet finalized a location for the support rally.

Clarence is one of three people who began the treesit on May 30 in opposition to Hamilton 's plans to blow the largest ever hole in the face of the Niagara Escarpment to accommodate the proposed Red Hill Creek Expressway. The planned blasting will create an 80 metre-wide trench in the escarpment that will be several hundred metres in length and 15 metres deep when it reaches the escarpment face.

The city began blasting at the sound end of this trench soon after the treesitters started their occupation, but were forced to halt by the Ministry of Labour after flying rocks damaged homes and cars located 200 metres from the construction site. Those incidents continue to be investigated by the Ministry of the Environment, but blasting has recently resumed. The treesit is located less than 25 metres from the proposed blasting area on the face of the escarpment.

One treesitter came down after 10 days. A second stayed up for 33 days and was then replaced by another sitter who spent 55 days in the trees. She came down on August 25 to be with her seriously ill husband in Henderson Hospital .

On several occasions, dozens of supporters of the treesitters marched to the site to provide food, water and other supplies. Although these re-supply missions were peaceful, arrests occurred on some of these occasions and several people, including all the former treesitters, have been hit with bail conditions that ban them from being anywhere near Red Hill Valley. A disabled reporter has alleged she was beaten up by the security guards when she attempted to photograph them from a distance.

Clarence's treesit may be the longest in Ontario history. He has endured sirens, floodlights and other psychological harassment by security guards, one of whom is also being investigated for anti-semetic and racist comments directed against protestors. Repeated blasting south of the site also poses serious risks to treesitters, not to mention the numerous thunderstorms and high winds that have punctuated this past summer.

Detailed information on the treesit can be found at http://treesit.revolutionweb.org including more details as they become available about the planned end of the protest on September 18.