Tow operators across the Island say more people are dumping their vehicles on the rural back roads during the pandemic.
“You shake your head and wonder why society is like this way,” said Westshore Towing owner Dave LeQuesne as he walked up to an abandoned vehicle at Diversion Reservoir, just north of Jordan River, on Friday.
The car had already been picked apart and used for target practice. LeQuesne was not retrieving the car on a business call. He and other tow operators across the province have been volunteering their time, plucking out vehicles from the bush to try to help keep the environment safe.
“Tow truck companies are tow truck companies. We are not garbage men,” said LeQuesne.
“We don’t pick up people’s garbage for free. And we are here today, doing it today for free because nobody is taking the initiative.”
LeQuesne says peoples struggling to find homes turned to RVs due to the economic crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as they get back on their feet, they are dumping them on the rual back roads.
“I had an email from a company, north Island. In two weeks, he had four abandoned RVs that he had to get off forest service roads because of his contract,” he said.
“Now he has to pay to get rid of those. I have one in my yard, I wouldn’t take it unless the province was paying for it. Now the province is paying for it [this time]”
LeQuesne and the Vancouver Island Professional Towing Association have been working with the province to try to make changes like creating stricter penalties, making recycling easier, even putting in place a fee earlier on in the vehicle’s life to cover such incidents. New measures are being considered.
And the entire Juan de Fuca area has been struggling with dumping from visitors.
“It’s the same for local groups,” said Mike Hicks, Capital Regional District Director for Juan de Fuca.
‘They are out on the highway cleaning up all this garbage. These jerks come out and throw it on the highway or drag their old trucks and throw them on the bush. Those days are over. If we could catch them in the Juan de Fuca, we would punish them as hard as we could but they are hard to catch. I think ICBC should be part of the cleanup for the vehicles.”
For now, due to COVID-19 measures, LeQuesne says upcoming changes will likely take longer. For now, he and others across the province will have to keep on towing until someone else steps in.
Julian Kolsut
