Canada Court Rules Against Greenpeace on Logging
8/22/96
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Canada court rules against Greenpeace on logging
8/22/96
Copyright 1996 by Reuters
OTTAWA (Reuter) - The Canadian Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of a major
forestry company, dismissing an appeal from the Greenpeace environmental group
that tried to stop logging in a pristine rain forest in British Columbia.
The group challenged the use of sweeping injunctions to ban unnamed people from
blocking roads used by MacMillan Bloedel Ltd loggers around Clayoquot Sound on
Vancouver Island, but the court said the injunctions were acceptable.
The injunctions have expired and Clayoquot Sound is now quiet but experts said
the case was relevant for possible future clashes between environmentalists and
loggers.
"I conclude that the British Columbia Supreme Court has jurisdiction to make
orders enjoining unknown persons from violating court orders," Justice Beverley
McLachlin wrote in the 9-0 decision.
Between 1991 and 1993, more than 1,000 people were charged with criminal
contempt of court and fined or sent to jail for impeding MacMillan Bloedel's
clear-cutting around Clayoquot. The firm had governmental authority to log there
despite environmental concerns by groups such as Greenpeace.
"We believe the Canadian public will be surprised to find that they don't have
the right to protect the public's forest," Greenpeace forest campaigner Tamara
Stark said. "We are disappointed the court has decided to protect private
interests at the expense of the interests of the public."
Stark said Greenpeace would continue to campaign to end the logging of pristine
rain forests, although she said there were no immediate plans to blockade roads.
MacMillan Bloedel welcomed the decision, which it said would help secure forest
industry jobs and the economic viability of logging operations.
"We're pleased. This...will reassure workers who were concerned about their
continued ability to do their jobs" because of protest blockades, a company
spokesman said.