CN Rail has won the right to pursue private criminal charges against 3 individuals involved in a 2020 blockade in New Hazelton.
A total of 12 individuals were arrested during the February 24th blockade, set up across the company’s rail line.
CN had acquired an injunction against the blockade just weeks prior, amid a series of blockades which sprouted up across the country.
Those blockades were intended to show solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs in their opposition of a Coastal GasLink pipeline on their territory.
In April of this year, the BC Prosecution Service decided not to press charges against any of the 12, but the Crown had other plans.
Crown prosecutors were unable to prove that nine of the individuals had prior knowledge of the injunction, and eliminated the possibility of criminal contempt charges.
However, the other three were captured on video having the injunction read to them.
Provincial prosecutors determined it was not in the public interest to pursue charges against the three, since they were non-violent, cooperative, and did not return to the tracks.
But the Supreme Court says that does not change the fact that their initial actions were wrong, and left the door open for CN to pursue criminal contempt charges.
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