Back on the Job

Photograph by: Darren Stone, Times Colonist.

I'd hoped to keep more current on my blog, but it's been two posts over the past two weeks. It's my intention to post much more frequently, so thanks for checking back.

Thought I'd share the story of my first day back on the job as a radio reporter. What started with an unexpected phone call lead to one of my most exciting days on the job yet.

It happened last month, November 16th. Got a call from a man with whom I'd made contact sometime in the past on a First Nations issue. He told me a standoff was brewing on the Bear Mountain site between the developers and some natives. A bit of background...

A secret cave had been in the news -- both earlier in the year, and in recent days. Months ago, the natives revealed that the cave was being threatened by construction plans. They kept its location a secret, but once it was found by crews, they decided to reveal it in an effort to save it from being built upon. The Bear Mountain boss wanted to fill in the cave and plop a house down as planned, as he's the owner of the land. Once cleared to do so by the government, his workers bulldozed the area over the cave and blocked its entrance with tires and tree stumps.

Natives caught wind of this and came to occupy the site to prevent the cave's implosion. That's when my phone rang. The tipster said BM security was blocking the main entrance and turning media away, and offered up a few phone numbers to get me started. I called up the newsroom which I used to work for (also where I wanted to get back on staff) and passed on the numbers. I thought my involvement would end there, but that was far from the case.

The guy on the desk said he hates trying to cover stories like this over the phone, and asked if I could go do it in person. I jumped at the chance and headed downtown to grab a tape deck. The same guy gave me his car, as I wasn't insured to drive any station vehicles.

On my way out of town, I was able to set up a rendez-vous with someone who was heading up the mountain on a back trail. They wanted media attention up there, and were willing to drive me as far as we could, and then walk me up. A TV cameraman was also there. Up we hiked with the chief of the local First Nation. He told us about the cave, its history as a healing site used by medicine men in centuries past. He said its location has always been kept secret, save for the few who actually went down to make use of the frigid waters (with healing properties, said he). We stopped a few times on the way up to do interviews, and so I could phone in live reports on the half-hourly newscasts.

After about 45 minutes we'd almost made it to the cave when BM security stopped us in our tracks. They told us we were trespassing and that we'd be arrested if we got any closer. The cave was about 20 meters away, and there were a few dozen people up ahead at the site (mostly natives, a few exceptions). The chief and his sidekicks told them they'd brought us up as guests on their traditional lands; that we were welcome there. Security maintained we were trespassing on private land, and that if we came any closer they'd have the RCMP remove us. I asked why we, the two reporters, were being kept at a distance while the rest of the "trespassers" were allowed to roam freely. To this, they had no answer. They got on their phones and radios back to ther commanders, one of whom asked to speak with me.

The BM manager told me the media was invited to gather at their HQ for some lunch and a ride up the hill for a scheduled press event at the cave. I told him no thanks, I'm already up here, I'll just wait for everyone to catch up. Well that wasn't OK with him! He angrily dressed me down on the phone, saying he was disappointed in my station for sending me, he was calling my boss, and he would have me arrested if I go any closer to that cave. I decided being arrested wouldn't do me any good in covering the story, so I'd hang back and wait for their 12:30 "event". Filed a few times to the newsroom while waiting. The guys who took us up the hill brought over some bologna sandwiches and water.

At one point, the TV guy climbed to higher ground (though no closer) looking for a clear shot at the cave, and a gathering crowd. Security chased him down through the bushes and sent him back to our little holding area. It was clear they didn't want any pictures before they were ready for their own in-house production.

Suddenly, several hundred construction-type guys appeared to form a stand-off showdown-style posse across a small bridge from the cave crew. With them came the rest of the media, cameras rolling and shutters whirling -- recording the strength-in-numbers images that BM had been trying to arrange. The spokesman stood in front of his workers, stating that it was their jobs and families he was worried about should the project not proceed on account of a small sacred native site. Some of those workers spouted off to the cameras, as did many of the would-be cave savers. And with the end of the lunch break, all the workers cleared out. The media scrums popped up talking to just about everyone who remained. The BM spokesperson, to his credit, stuck behind and did his best to sort through the complicated events that lead up to the standoff. When pressed, he agreed to meet with the natives in their longhouse and talk things over.

In a way, BM got what they wanted -- all the evening TV reports and newspaper photos (like the one above) were the strong images that made it to air/press. People tuned in to the radio got a bit of a different story.

At last word, they were working on some sort of compromise involving a native-run casino as part of the BM development. Stay tuned!