The Bradner Community Protests
Propane Cannon Noise

Earlier this summer, the way of life in the peaceful little village of Bradner changed forever. (Hopefully not!).

The town known as the daffodil capital of Canada has been taken over by blueberry growers and their cursed propane cannons. The grower just north of the Bradner General store began firing his propane cannon this summer to protect a very immature field of newly planted blueberries. Another grower to the south east of the Bradner store on Haverman also chimed in with a cannon of his own. The once peaceful community of Bradner was shattered by the noise!

To say that local residents were angry and upset is a total understatement. To better express their frustrations with these new "noise invaders" members of the community organized a protest against propane cannons on August 12th, 2007. There was an excellent turnout. At least 50 people attended, many with colourful anti-noise / anti-cannon signs. Some folks decorated their trucks, and one couple even brought a cannon of their own and fired off several salvo's aimed at the neighbouring blueberry farmer to further display our annoyance and frustration with the "noise invader" in our community.

There is a very strong community spirit in Bradner, and people showed that they are not going to tolerate blueberry growers who use propane cannons. People are concerned that Bradner is rapidly being taken over by blueberry growers and their cursed cannons. Residents also understand that they may not be affected today, but we all know that the vacant hay field next door might one day be converted to blueberries, and from that day forward a person's summers are ruined by cannon blasts from 6:30am to 8:00pm every day from the beginning of July until almost the end of September.

Several members of the media also attended the protest, including a reporter from the Abbotsford News, and TV crews from Global TV and CTV. These folks interviewed many of us, and when the Global TV crew ventured down the blueberry grower's driveway, a somewhat heated discussion took place between the grower and the TV crew. The grower was your typical blueberry guy who used all the same old arguments we have heard for years, " this is the ALR and I have the right to farm; I need the noise makers and they are legal; etc. etc". All he forgot to say was, "I don't give a darn about the neighbours". But now he knows in no uncertain terms how Bradner neighbours feel about his cannons.

Once that exchange died down, and the Global TV crew left, the CTV fellows arrived. Too bad that they missed the action! They interviewed us again, and after that the crowd slowly disbursed. It was a good day, and everyone I talked to felt that the protest went well and the community made their point with this particular blueberry grower. Will he make a change and stop using his cannon? Very doubtful, unfortunately. The use of cannons is regulated by our Provincial Minister of Agriculture and Right to Farm legislation, so we need to get our politicians on board and help them to understand the problem, before propane cannons can become a thing of the past.

We do have one local politician, Mission's MLA Randy Hawes, who wants to hear from people who are affected by cannons. Please send Randy an e-mail if you get a chance and tell him your cannon story. Pls. copy your own MLA as well. Randy's e-mail address is: randy.hawes.MLA@leg.bc.ca