An "Honest" Mistake?

Clayoquot Rally Photo Not Sound

By Keven Drews

TOFINO — A photo used by environmentalists earlier this month to draw attention to local logging practices was not taken inside Clayoquot Sound.

Ken Matthews, forestry manager for the Coulson Group of Companies, said the photo held up by Adriane Carr, deputy leader Green Party of Canada, during the Aug. 2 rally was of an International Forest Products Ltd. cutblock, five kilometres north of Clayoquot Sound.

“It is not in Clayoquot Sound …It is not in the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve which has a common boundary with the CS [Clayoquot Sound] land use decision,” said Matthews.The photo, titled Heartbreak 2008, depicts a massive heart-shaped clearcut. It was shown to more than 150 environmentalists who were protesting the industrialization of Clayoquot Sound, including plans by Coulson Forest Products, of Port Alberni, and First-Nations owned MaMook Natural Resources Ltd., to log an untouched watershed in the Hesquiat Point Creek, north of Tofino. Read More

Whether it is a photo or a video, these groups love to use these stunning images to shock people into supporting them. And an instance like this one shows how important it is for consumers to not believe everything they see from these activists. Normally, by the time they get caught, the damage is done and they will claim “honest mistake”.