Fairy Creek blockades back in court this month

VICTORIA — The ongoing battle over old-growth forests on southern Vancouver Island is heading back to court where a forest company will seek to extend an injunction order and the RCMP and protesters will face off over police powers.

The B.C. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear four civil applications in Nanaimo connected to the yearlong dispute over logging in the Fairy Creek area, north of Port Renfrew.

More than 800 people have been arrested in the area since May after Teal Jones Cedar Products Ltd. was granted an injunction prohibiting blockades at entry points to an area where it is harvesting trees.

The court’s decision on the applications, which are set to be heard Sept. 14-17, could change the nature of the dispute, Victoria lawyer Matthew Nefstead said Friday.

“If the injunction expires and isn’t renewed, then obviously that completely changes the landscape in terms of the interface between police and protesters and loggers,” said Nefstead, who is representing several members of a group opposed to old-growth logging known as the Rainforest Flying Squad.

None of the statements made in the applications have been tested in court.

Teal Cedar Products says in court documents it is seeking to have the injunction order extended by one year to Sept. 26, 2022, because without the court order and the presence of the RCMP, protesters will impede forestry operations that are worth $32 million to the B.C.-based company.

“Unfortunately, and despite the RCMP’s considerable efforts, the blockades are ongoing,” say the documents.

“In the absence of an injunction and enforcement by the RCMP anarchy will reign ... a situation which cannot be tolerated in a society governed by the rule of law.”

A spokesperson for the company could not be immediately reached for comment.

The RCMP, in an application filed by the Attorney General of Canada, says it is asking the court to vary its injunction order to allow the Mounties to limit traffic and conduct searches in enforcement areas because of increased challenges from protesters.

The RCMP says it wants the order changed to allow officers to conduct searches of people and deny entry to those considered in breach of the injunction or refusing to be searched.