by Ted Colley, Surrey Now
Published: Thursday, July 23, 2009
SURREY - About 60 protesters lined Highway 10 at 168th Street Wednesday afternoon to sing the blueberry cannon blues.
They're fed up with what they call excessive use of propane cannons on neighbouring farms. The cannons are used to keep birds off blueberry crops by producing loud explosions by igniting a charge of propane.
John Gordon moved into the area six years ago and said Thursday the propane guns weren't an issue then. Now, however, is another matter. He recently counted the number of reports audible from his deck on a Sunday morning.
"During one five-minute segment I counted 49 shots and in another five-minute space I recorded another 53. That was around 10:30 in the morning. I finally had to go back inside and close my windows."
Wednesday's demonstrators lined the highway holding signs with slogans like "War Zone Blueberries" and "Make Pie Not War." Gordon said the idea was to raise awareness of the problem and attract attention to put pressure on politicians to do something about it.The group also brought a couple of cannons of their own and fired off a few rounds with the propane cannon, but not the howitzer.
Things got a bit tense when a farmer and some of his hands confronted the demonstrators.
"Some farm workers in a jacked up pickup truck drove by and started cursing and swearing at us, including women and children. Then the owner came out and threatened to line up cannons all along the highway by next morning," Gordon said.
Soon noise makers similar to bottle rockets were flying over the protesters heads, he said. The police were called and the situation was quickly calmed.
Provincial right-to-farm legislation exempts farms from municipal noise, nuisance and fireworks bylaws while conducting farm business, so city hall is virtually powerless to intervene.
Gordon and his neighbours want the provincial government to amend its legislation to include recommendations of a review board that include limiting the number of cannons on farms, regular relocation of cannons, using them only when birds are present and more.
