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Cathedral Grove
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News
Court parks plans for
Cathedral Grove lot
by
Richard Watts
Times Colonist
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
The B.C. government has
lost a legal skirmish in its attempt to build a parking lot near
Cathedral Grove provincial park.
In a decision released to the public on Monday, B.C. Supreme Court
Justice G.M. Quijano dismissed an application from the province for a
court order to keep people from interfering with its attempts to build
a parking lot in the park. Quijano wrote in her decision that to grant
a court injunction would bypass existing laws and deprive people who
might be charged of due legal process.
Cathedral Grove is a stand of giant Douglas fir and western red cedar.
It is the most famous part of MacMillan Provincial Park about 16
kilometres east of Port Alberni on Highway 4.
Since last year, the government has said it needs to build a new
two-hectare parking lot near the grove. It says visitors park their
vehicles along the highway causing safety problems.
But park and nature lovers complain the design and location of the
proposed parking lot expose the big trees to dangers from wind and
water runoff.
And in February protesters refused to stand aside when logging crews
showed up to begin clearing the way, prompting the government to seek
a court injunction.
Following Quijano's decision, Nikki McCallum, spokeswoman for the
Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, said government remains
committed to building a parking lot.
But McCallum also said the judge's decision will be studied closely
before any moves are taken.
Annette Tanner, chairwoman of the Western Canada Wilderness
Committee's mid-Island branch, said she at least hopes government will
meet with people like her now that the injunction has been refused.
Tanner said there are some easy alternatives to the proposed parking
lot site including a close-by chunk of land which has been recently
logged. "The choice for the location is the absolutely worst choice
we've seen," she said.
Meanwhile, the lawyers who successfully opposed the government's
attempts to get a court injunction said Quijano's decision can help to
keep the justice system out of political disputes.
Cameron Ward said in recent years B.C. has taken a world lead in
dealing with protest and civil disobedience with court injunctions and
contempt-of-court charges.
But that approach puts a judge in the position of enforcing the
court's authority instead of listening and deciding between two
parties arguing within the context of law.
And it's an approach where citizens can be handed penalties much more
harsh than if they were charged under the Land Act or something like
criminal mischief.
Lara Tessaro, the other defence lawyer, said court injunctions and
contempt of court charges, are just too wide-ranging to properly
protect citizen's rights.
"Injunctions are orders against the world at large to keep everybody
out," said Tessaro. "They are not fine tools they are blunt
instruments."
© Copyright 2004 Times Colonist (Victoria)
reprinted with permission
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