Employees at the Ministry of Environment building arrived to a defaced workplace on April 29.
(GLYNN BROTHEN / iNFOnews.ca)
April 29, 2015 - 12:07 PM
KAMLOOPS - Employees at the Ministry of Environment offices in Kamloops arrived at work to discover their building targeted by someone with a message for Imperial Metals.
On Wednesday, April 29, the message 'shut down Imperial Metals' was found scrawled across four different parts of the building. Cpl. Cheryl Bush, a spokesperson for the Kamloops RCMP, says suspects also filled the building's locks with silicone.
Government spokespeople refused comment this morning about the incident or about the offices being under lockdown as a result.
Bush says there were no threats issued to employees and investigators are treating the incident as mischief. She adds she's unaware if there were any other similar acts of vandalism in the city.
Environmental critics of the Imperial Metals Corporation spoke out against it after the tailings dam at the corporation's Mount Polley location near Quesnel failed and flooded nearby lakes and rivers with 24 million cubic metres of silt and water.
It's unknown if the incident at the ministry office is related to a planned 'Global Day of Action' aimed at stopping the re-opening of the mine. A protest is scheduled around 3 p.m. today at MLA Terry Lake's office in Kamloops. Other rallies are scheduled across B.C., Canada and in parts of the United States.
In October 2003, ministry employee Richard Anderson entered the building and killed two colleagues before turning the gun on himself. It is unknown if any lockdown procedures followed today are a result of precautions implemented following the shooting 12 years ago.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015