The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) has posted a $100,000 private reward for bring to justice the people responsible for the attack at the Coastal GasLink LNG worksite near Houston B.C. last February.
The initiative was launched in partnership with Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers, which stands ready in this special program to administer the reward and accept anonymous tips from anyone with information that will lead to arrests and charges.
RCMP say video footage shows approximately 20 masked individuals attacked nine security guards and construction workers, heavy equipment, and outbuildings in a clearly 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.
While no one was seriously injured, the attack caused millions of dollars in damaged equipment and was traumatic for those working on site that night as well as their colleagues, families, and friends.
Sending a message that violence in the workplace and on job sites should never be tolerated, the ICBA decided to offer the $100,000 reward to help find those responsible.
“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.”
Please contact Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit www.solvecrime.ca.
