Today protesters won two legal victories in their fight to halt Kinder Morgan's proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain Pipeline through British Columbia to Vancouver.
Contempt charges thrown out in Burnaby Mountain pipeline protest
BY JAMES KELLER,
VANCOUVER - A B.C. Supreme Court judge has dropped civil contempt charges against dozens of protesters who were arrested at an anti-pipeline protest on Burnaby Mountain.
The order came Thursday after Kinder Morgan acknowledged it had used incorrect GPS co-ordinates when it sought an injunction related to its Trans Mountain pipeline.
More than 100 people have been arrested on Burnaby Mountain, including Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, who crossed the police line earlier Thursday.
Kinder Morgan is conducting drilling and survey work at the site related to the proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline.
A company lawyer said the GPS co-ordinates used in the initial injunction application — and, subsequently, in the court order — were inaccurate.
The company wants the co-ordinates updated and the injunction's timeline extended.
"What's happened thus far is that apparently people have been arrested on the basis of an order that refers to some other piece of property," Cullen said, prompting laughs and jeers from the courtroom's crowded public gallery.
And also:
Kinder Morgan loses bid to extend injunction
An application by Kinder Morgan to extend an injunction keeping protesters away from two drilling sites on Burnaby Mountain was rejected by the B.C. Supreme Court Thursday, meaning the site must be cleared of excavation work by Dec. 1.
Lawyers told the court the cost of policing the Kinder Morgan work sites on Burnaby Mountain and arresting more than 100 anti-pipeline protesters over the past week is running at about $100,000 a day for the RCMP, but that figure was not confirmed by the RCMP.
Grand Chief Phillip Stewart of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs also was arrested as he protested in solidarity with other protesters who had been arrested.
B.C. grand chief crosses Burnaby Mountain police line to support 'brave' anti-pipeline activists
VANCOUVER - A prominent B.C. First Nations leader has been arrested for violating a court order, the same as more than other 100 other activists who have already opposed Kinder Morgan's plans to expand an existing pipeline.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip crossed a police line Wednesday on Burnaby Mountain, where the company is conducting technical studies for the Trans Mountain project.
Phillip declared he would get arrested as a matter of principle to support the other "brave and courageous" activists, before clasping hands with other First Nations elders and marching towards the RCMP.
A man beat a native drum and the crowd of supporters sang an indigenous melody as Phillip stepped through dense brush to be escorted away by police.
How big a deal is this proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline? Essentially its Keystone XL 2.0.
Canada's Trans Mountain Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion is "Keystone XL 2.0"