Coastal Gaslink Is Facing 11 More Potential Fines

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Coastal Gaslink Is Facing 11 More Potential Fines

[ https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/10/04/Coas ... ign=091023 ]

Amanda Follett Hosgood October 4, 2023 The Tyee

B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office says it’s still considering nearly a dozen administrative penalties against the Coastal GasLink pipeline after issuing its heftiest fine so far to the project last month.

The recent fine, for $340,000, was a result of the project’s ongoing issues with erosion and sediment control.

In a statement [ https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023ENV0058-001481 ] issued by the Ministry of Environment on Sept. 21, the province said EAO compliance and enforcement officers identified the issues during four days of inspections in April and May 2022.

The environmental regulator also issued another, smaller fine of $6,000. The second penalty was for providing “false and misleading information” about maintenance inspection records last October, the province said. The company described the reporting discrepancy as an “unintentional and regrettable error.” . . . .

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Indigenous land defenders found guilty of criminal contempt; court will now focus on Charter violations by RCMP C-IRG unit

[ https://pbicanada.org/2024/01/13/indige ... -irg-unit/ ]

Published by Brent Patterson on January 13, 2024

QUOTE: "We are monitoring news reports and social media posts on the trial of three Indigenous land defenders – Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en), Shaylynn Sampson (Gitxsan), and Corey Jocko (Mohawk) – charged with criminal contempt for their opposition to the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory without consent.

They were arrested on November 19, 2021, during a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) raid on Wet’suwet’en territory.

CBC now reports: “A prominent Wet’suwet’en leader and two pipeline opponents were found guilty of criminal contempt of court for breaking an injunction against impeding work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen read his decision to the court in Smithers on Friday [January 12].”

“Tammen found the accused guilty of one charge each of criminal contempt of court for blocking access to Coastal GasLink pipeline construction in defiance of a court order. In December 2019, the B.C. Supreme Court granted Coastal GasLink an injunction barring protesters from impeding the construction.”

The Tyee adds: “While civil contempt requires proof that an accused was aware of and deliberately defied a court order, criminal contempt is distinguished from civil contempt when it is carried out in a public way ‘that would tend to depreciate the court’s authority,’ Crown prosecutor Kurtas Welch said.”

That article then explains: “Criminal contempt penalties can include fines or imprisonment.” . . . ."

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Dramatic Video Shows Militarized Canadian Police Raid Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders & Journalists

[ https://www.democracynow.org/2021/11/24 ... s_pipeline ]

November 24, 2021

QUOTE: "We feature dramatic video footage just released that shows a violent raid Friday by Canadian federal police on one of the camps set up to keep Coastal GasLink out of sovereign Indigenous territory. Fifteen people in total were arrested, including two journalists. Wet’suwet’en land defender Sleydo’, also known as Molly Wickham, has now been released. The new footage was filmed by documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano, who was also just released. The raid ended a 56-day blockade of the drilling site. The 400-mile pipeline within Wet’suwet’en land violates both Indigenous and Canadian laws."

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