A young worker who described himself as an employee of a company that's been issued hundreds of tickets for bylaw infractions in Port Coquitlam says he’s being paid by Ground X to stand along the city’s main street with a sign that reads “Corruption! POCO City Hall… Stay Tuned!!”
Today, Sept. 19, the worker was on Shaughnessy Street, in front of the municipal building, to air his employer's grievances and legal tangles with the local government.
According to a city spokesperson, Ground X, which handles earthwork and civil construction site services in Metro Vancouver and has a material recycling site at 750 Kingsway Ave., has been issued more than 670 bylaw tickets.
Last month, B.C.’s Environment Ministry also fined Ground X a total of $150,000 after two inspections, in 2021 and 2023, found the firm was discharging high levels of arsenic, chromium, lead, coliform and hydrocarbons into a ditch that drains into the nearby Pitt River.
The decision is in line with Section 6(2) of the Environment Management Act, the provincial director wrote in his ruling.
In an email this afternoon, Ground X president and CEO Rick Lubarski told the Tri-City News that he is “currently waiting for direction from our litigation team to respond” to the Tri-City News’ article last week about the ministry penalties.
He also asked to be “enlightened” with information about the person holding the giant sign outside of Port Coquitlam City Hall.
Today, as the young man ate lunch and Coun. Steve Darling along with Coquitlam RCMP Supt. Darren Carr observed the protester with other municipal officials nearby in Veterans Park, he told the Tri-City News he had started his day at 5 a.m. on the Ground X site.
He said he is being tasked by his employers to hold the sign until the end of day Friday.
In response, Lubarski claimed he was unaware of the sign-holder as he has more than 100 employees and “we have a couple of consulting companies that are working with our group of companies on numerous communication and media projects.”
Lubarski added later, "I reached out to our team and we have no Ground X registered paid employee holding a sign out front of PoCo City Hall today."
The young man told the Tri-City News he had received five visits from PoCo bylaw officers about the sign, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Asked about what the “Stay Tuned” meant, the male worker with a British accent shrugged.
“It just means ‘Stay Tuned,’” he said. “There’s more to come.”
Coquitlam RCMP said the protester was not causing a disturbance and was "exercising his legal right."
On Thursday, Ground X’s website and Facebook page were offline.
In a statement, the municipality wrote, "The city respects and upholds the right to peaceful protest and are aware of the gentleman holding a sign outside city hall. As with any peaceful demonstration, we ensure that all individuals can express their views, provided they do so in accordance with local bylaws and without disruption to public safety or services."
"As mentioned previously, the city has undertaken significant steps to address the ongoing concerns regarding Ground X’s operations, which posed serious environmental risks and violated city bylaws. In addition, the provincial Ministry of Environment has levied large fines against Ground X."
It added, "The city remains committed to protecting our community’s safety and environment."
