B.C. RCMP protest response under review; Fairy Creek class action filed

The RCMP watchdog has launched a systemic investigation of the national police force’s British Columbia unit that deals with protests against logging and pipeline projects.

Civilian Review and Complaints Commission chairperson Michelaine Lahaie says in a statement issued Thursday that the investigation will look into the activities and operations of the RCMP
“E” Division Community-Industry Response Group.

The group is tasked with providing a coordinated response to public order events related to large-scale resource-based industrial projects in British Columbia.

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• Indigenous leaders concerned over B.C. government’s old-growth deferral process

Protesters against old-growth logging on Vancouver Island allege police have used excessive force, such as pepper-spraying people’s faces at close range, as well as shoving and throwing them to the ground.

The complaints commission plans to assess if the group’s procedures followed the law and its own policies.

It also intends to look at whether the group’s policies, procedures and training clearly define both the role of the RCMP and the unit, as well as if they are consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Class action lawsuit filed by Fairy Creek protesters

The investigation comes as protesters against old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek watershed have filed a class action lawsuit against the RCMP.

The claim alleges “RCMP’s policies and tactics in enforcing an injunction order in Fairy Creek violated the Charter rights of the proposed class members and constituted tortious conduct,” specifically noting the use of an exclusion zone and the RCMP’s “catch-and-release policy.”

 

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The two plaintiffs representing the class action, Arvin Singh Dang and Kristy Morgan, were documenting the protests in central Vancouver Island when they claim they were subjected to “unlawful tactics by the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group.”

“Our case aims to demonstrate that in its enforcement of an injunction order, the RCMP infringed on the constitutional rights of members of the public at Fairy Creek—rights that are protected under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” said Halla Ahmed, an attorney at Branch MacMaster LLP, in a statement Wednesday.