The Thompson Nicola Regional District will be asking the Premier to intervene in the Tiny House Warriors protest camp near Blue River.

Area director Stephen Quinn says residents came out in force to a public meeting last month, to express concern about the protesters who are trying to block the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

“Two years ago, we had a group of people that left Clearwater under RCMP escort and they relocated into Blue River, and they have done nothing but raise a lot of trouble in town,” Quinn says.

“I just want to see this defused and solved before it goes into further violence. And in my opinion it does have that possibility. This affects our community, it affects the region, it affects the First Nations in our area.”

The protesters are on Simpcw First Nation traditional territory, and chief Shelly Loring says they are not welcome and she’s asked those members to stand down.

She points out the Simpcw have given prior and informed consent to the pipeline expansion project.

“Having dealt with the Tiny House Warriors for (two weeks), the entire makeup of this group is not Indigenous,” Clearwater mayor Merlin Blackwell says. “We, as a generality, seem to make this about Indigenous rights and title and they are definitely using that to their advantage, but the group itself is not solely Indigenous. It is a mix of people.”