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Eagleridge protesters get another chance to overturn injunction
by CBC News •
Wednesday May 31, 2006 at 08:08 AM
Protesters trying to stop highway construction through Eagleridge Bluffs in West Vancouver are claiming victory after a B.C. Court of Appeal judge granted them leave to make their case to B.C.'s highest court on June 12.
Eagleridge protesters get another chance to overturn injunction CBC News Protesters trying to stop highway construction through Eagleridge Bluffs in West Vancouver are claiming victory after a B.C. Court of Appeal judge granted them leave to make their case to B.C.'s highest court on June 12. The Coalition to Save Eagleridge Bluffs is seeking to overturn the injunction that prevents them from stopping logging and blasting for a new section of the Sea to Sky Highway through the bluffs. Some of the Eagleridge protesters put down
their signs and left when police moved in and
threatened to arrest them last week. (CBC)
That injunction had been granted to the contractor by a B.C. Supreme Court judge, and the protesters' subsequent appeal for a stay was rejected. However, the group has now been given the green light to make its arguments to a B.C. Court of Appeal tribunal of three judges. "It feels good to smile for a change, because this is a victory. And we're very pleased. We finally won a battle, even if the war is not won yet," said coalition spokesman Dennis Perry. But Perry acknowledged that the hearing is nearly two weeks away, giving the contractor a window to carry out a lot of logging and site preparation. "In view of the court's decision today, we assume that the contractor will stop work for the next 11 days, to allow the appeal to proceed," he said. "If it does not, then in my view, it will be flouting the court's decision and showing disrespect to this province's highest court." However, a spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of Transportation says the logging will proceed. It's expected that most, if not all, of the clearing could be completed by the time the court hearing is held in two weeks. Last week, 23 protesters were arrested at Eagleridge Bluffs after refusing to leave their tent city protest against the highway construction. They argue that the area is environmentally sensitive, and want the government to build a tunnel instead of cutting through the bluffs. The Sea to Sky Highway is being upgraded for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which will have events in Vancouver and Whistler.
www.cbc.ca/bc/story/bc_eagleridge-court20060530.html
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