Sask. senior arrested in tree protest

By Ian Gustafson

Myles MacDonald stood up for what he believed in Tuesday.

MacDonald, 78, who lives north of Prince Albert west of Highway 2 , noticed a municipal worker using a mulcher taking down some trees across the grid road from his rural home.

That’s when he decided to walk out in front of the machine.

“He had to stop. It was either that or mulch me along with the logs he was working on,” MacDonald told paNOW. “I’ve been watching these growing back since 1984 so I was not interested in seeing somebody coming along and taking them down in the name of road maintenance.”

The clearly passionate MacDonald obstructed the work for close to an hour even though he can barely stand up. The employee for the R.M. of Paddockwood called the police because MacDonald was preventing him from doing his job.

Explaining his motives, the local senior said he made his protest because the area is occupied by a lot of small wildlife such as rabbits, squirrels, salamanders, and garter snakes to name a few.

“I don’t have a legal leg to stand on just moral, ethical and environmental points I was trying to make,” MacDonald explained.

Saskatchewan RCMP Cpl. Rob King told paNOW when the officer arrived he tried to negotiate with MacDonald about moving aside, but he refused to leave.