B.C. Crown takes over prosecution of protesters

VANCOUVER B.C.’s Attorney-General’s ministry has agreed to take over conduct of the prosecution of dozens of protesters who have been arrested at Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project work site in Burnaby.

Trevor Shaw, a lawyer for the B.C. Prosecution Service, on Monday told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Affleck that the Crown had done a general review of the circumstances of the case and concluded that criminal contempt of court proceedings were warranted.

He told the judge that two special prosecutors — Vancouver lawyers Greg DelBigio and Michael Klein — had been appointed to handle the cases of MPs Elizabeth May and Kennedy Stewart respectively. Both May, the leader of the Green party of Canada, and Stewart were among the protesters who were arrested.

Last week, given the nature of the public defiance of the protesters, the judge had asked the AttorneyGeneral’s ministry to take over prosecution of the case from the company and had asserted that he believed the violations of his court injunction were criminal in nature rather than civil.

The first trial of 10 protesters who were arrested on March 17 is expected to get underway May 7, the judge heard Monday.