The injunction to stop protesters from interfering with logging in what is commonly believed to be the last intact old growth ecosystem in Southern Vancouver Island ended at 4 PM on Tuesday, September 28th, 2021. 

Last April, the Court granted Teal Cedar Products a six-month injunction in the Fairy Creek watershed. 

The logging company applied for a one year extension, but this has been  denied. 

“The factors weighing in favour of extension do not outweigh the public interest in protecting the Court from the risk of further depreciation of its reputation,” wrote Justice Douglas Thompson in his  reasons for judgement. ”It goes without saying that unlawful measures imposed by those given authority to enforce the Court’s order does no credit to the rule of law or the Court’s reputation, especially when those measures trench on civil liberties in a substantial way.”

According to a video from Fairy Creek, “RCMP are packing up. They are just beyond these gates, they are taking their tarps. They are taking out all of their vehicles leaving.”

Cortes Currents asked Saul Arbess, spokesperson for the Rainforest Flying Squad, “What does this mean tomorrow, what happens?”

“It would seem to me that, two things: it provides significant opportunity for people to continue non-violent direct action in opposition to the logging  that is going on in the critically endangered forests that the government of BC has said that it is in the process of deferring – but hasn’t,” said Arbess. 

He also pointed out that logging should not be going on in areas where the government is considering establishing protections.

“It is a principle of fundamental justice,” said Arbess.

Justice Thompson criticized the RCMP decision to block public access to the roads in Teal Jones’ Tree Farm License, “which are on public land” and “may be used by the public.” 

He had previously ruled that “the RCMP’s expansive exclusion zones, and associated checkpoints and searches, were unlawful because it had not been established that these measures were reasonable and necessary to carry out their duties,” but “they continue to enforce exclusion zones that are more expansive than the law permits.” 

Thompson was also concerned that the methods of enforcement of the Court’s order have led to serious and substantial infringement of civil liberties, including impairment of the freedom of the press to a marked degree.

As regards the protesters, Thompson wrote that he found them to be “respectful, intelligent” and “good citizens in the important sense that they care intensely about the common good.” The videos and other evidence showed them to be “disciplined and patient adherents to standards of non-violent disobedience” with only “occasional lapses from that standard.”

For the most part, Thompson found “the police have generally used reasonable force” but “some of the videos do show disquieting lapses in reasonable crowd control.” He cited a video in which police pulled COVID masks off protesters’ faces and then spayed them with pepper spray.

“The problem, of course, is that these incidents of excess are widely broadcast, and they are seen as the methods by which this Court’s order is being enforced.” he added.

This was reinforced by the nearly daily police updates containing words like “Police enforcement of the BC Supreme Court injunction order in the Fair Creek Watershed area continued today . . .”

In the last update, published Monday, September 27th, it states “Since enforcement began, the RCMP have arrested 1101 individuals.” 

Top photo credit: A Forest Defender at Fairy Creek on the morning of September 28, 2021 – Photo courtesy Fairy Creek Blockade Facebook page

Sign-up for Cortes Currents email-out:

To receive an emailed catalogue of articles on Cortes Currents, send a (blank) email to subscribe to your desired frequency:

• Daily, (articles posted during the last 24 hours) – cortescurrents-daily+subscribe@cortes.groups.io
• Weekly Digest cortescurrents – cortescurrents-weekly+subscribe@cortes.groups.io