Skip to content

Honking to support strikers woke him up every day

"With the strike on, it seems like they're there 24-7. They start at 5 a.m. and they solicit people to honk."

South Sumas resident Ernie Hobbs said he is tired of the noise pollution caused by the teachers' dispute.

He said he's been woken up every single morning at 5 a.m. by the sound of vehicles honking in support of teachers picketing in front of Tyson elementary.

"With the strike on, it seems like they're there 24-7. They start at 5 a.m. and they solicit people to honk."

Tired of losing sleep every day, he put up his own sign outside to passing motorists which read: "Please Do Not Honk."

"It actually worked to some degree in the morning," he noted.

Then by lunch time, it started again.

"I went out and my sign was gone."

A City of Chilliwack truck came long and a crew member took the sign and left a cone in its stead, he was told.

"They're not making any friends that way," said Hobbs.

"My question is since people don't go to work that early, why are the picketers out here at that hour?"

A City of Chilliwack spokesperson said the sign issue had been reported, and turned out to be a bylaw infraction.

"Our Operations crew responded to the service request and confirmed that the sign, which was affixed to a City tree, was in contravention of our bylaw and was removed."



Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
Read more