A week later, the tree she fought to protect is in pieces and Kallis faces charges of trespassing and resisting arrest.

Unhappy Story
"This isn't a very happy final story." Kallis said before she described her latest protest.  She explained that last Monday, only a day after a Tree Festival she staged in Port Credit, workers showed up to cut down the same tree that she wanted preserved. In order to slow down the workers, Kallis climbed into the tree.  26 hours later she finally climbed down.  When she reached the ground she was arrested and charged by Peel police. Before police escorted her off the property, workers started taking the historic tree down.

Mixed Support
During her time in the boughs of the ancient tree, which she and and her supporters named Odin, Kallis received support from her family, support from the neighbourhood and a lot of media attention.

Legend Homes, the development firm responsible for destroying the trees on the property, showed less enthusiasm for Kallis' cause.  "The owner of the property called me 'radical'," recalled Kallis.  "I though it was a strange label, I was just sitting in a tree that has been there for hundreds of years. He's cutting the tree down, and he has only owned the land for a few years," said Kallis.

Personal damage
Kallis' activism might cause her personal damage because resisting arrest is a criminal offense.  "The only regret I have is not locking myself to the tree because the decision to come down was difficult for me to make," said the environmentalist. "Obviously, I had to come down, but if I was locked they would have to remove me, and I wouldn't have been charged with resisting arrest," said Kallis.

Despite Kallis' sacrifices, the bylaw in question is still on the City's drawing board.  Kallis said that since the bylaw was proposed, many of Port Credit's trees have been falling at the hands of people trying to beat the adoption of the bylaw.