Boyd’s environmental charges adjourned to Dec. 19 to enter plea

SASKATOON Saskatchewan Party founding member and former economy minister Bill Boyd’s second court date on four environmental charges ended with an adjournment — the second since the charges were laid.

A judge in Kindersley on Tuesday adjourned the matter to Dec. 19, at which point Boyd is expected to enter a plea. His plea will determine the next steps, Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga said.

The charges against Boyd include three under the province’s Environmental Protection and Management Act and one under its Wildlife Protection Act.

Boyd was removed from the Sask. Party caucus after the province’s conflict-of-interest commissioner concluded that a trip Boyd took to China to promote a private agricultural irrigation firm “fell below the standards expected” of MLAs.

The environmental charges came to light a short time later, on Aug. 30.

One of the charges involves allegations of altering wildlife habitat by cultivating an area of native grassland between April 1 and May 3, 2017.

The remaining offences are alleged to have happened between June 15 and July 15, 2017, and include one count of altering the banks of the South Saskatchewan River, one of adding or removing aggregate from the river and one of removing vegetation from the banks.

The charges came about three weeks after the provincial Water Security Agency granted Boyd — who was still a sitting MLA — approval for irrigation work on land adjacent to protected wildlife habitat.

Boyd’s first court appearance was scheduled for Oct. 11 in Kindersley. He did not appear in person. His lawyer, R.J. Ard, asked for, and received, an adjournment to Nov. 7.