$100K reward offered to solve Coastal GasLink attack case
Contact Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit www.solvecrime.ca with tips.
A group of vandals caused severe damage to a Coastal GasLink site in February. – ICBA
Help the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) solve a crime and you could be $100,000 richer.
The B.C. group is offering the reward for information about an attack on a Coastal GasLink LNG worksite in February. The ICBA has partnered with Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers, which will administer the reward and accept anonymous tips from anyone with information that will lead to arrests and charges.
Houston, B.C. RCMP say video footage shows approximately 20 masked individuals attacked nine security guards and construction workers, heavy equipment, and outbuildings in a premediated and coordinated nighttime assault by attackers with axes. In one case, a worker trapped inside a truck had his window smashed out by an axe.
Fires were set and heavy equipment was hijacked to batter other onsite equipment and shred trailers. Lights and video surveillance at the site had been disabled, a school bus was parked to block access in or out of the site and the Morice River Service Road was blocked by felled trees, fires and spikes.
No one was seriously injured but the attack caused millions of dollars in damaged equipment.
“The people working on this pipeline are highly trained and skilled and are building an incredible national legacy of which we can all be proud,” said Chris Gardner, ICBA president. “Their expertise and hard work should be upheld as an example of Canadian ingenuity and exceptionalism. They deserve no less than a full investigation and the assurance that the perpetrators of this attack will be held accountable and brought to justice. ICBA is proud to stand up for construction and energy workers and offer this reward.”
Crime Stoppers officials stressed that someone with knowledge of such a crime might fear retribution if they share information, but a tipster’s personal information is never collected.
“In the decades we’ve been in operation, we have never identified any of our tipsters,” said Linda Annis, executive director of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers. “They are never contacted again by us or the police or have to testify in court. We encourage anyone to contact us about any crime, whether it’s relatively small in scope, or as costly and dangerous as this case.”
Anyone with information about the incident can contact Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit www.solvecrime.ca.
“This is a very troubling escalation in violent criminal activity that could have resulted in serious injury or death. This was a calculated and organized violent attack that left its victims shaken and a multimillion dollar path of destruction,” said Warren Brown, chief superintendent for Houston RCMP. “While we respect everyone’s right to peacefully protest in Canada, we cannot tolerate this type of extreme violence and intimidation. Our investigators will work tirelessly to identify the culprits and hold them accountable for their actions.”
