Lawsuit of the week: Teal Cedar claims Western Canada Wilderness Committee organized unlawful blockade
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Teal Cedar Products Ltd. is suing the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) over a blockade of logging road construction in the Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island.
Teal Cedar filed a notice of civil claim in BC Supreme Court on November 24. Defendants also include WCWC employees Torrance Coste, Dave Cascagnette, Trevor Schinkel and “persons unknown.”
The company claims the Wilderness Committee and Coste organized the blockade, consisting of about 10 people, which has been impeding access to the area where Teal wants to upgrade roads and build a landing pad to support its helicopter logging operations.
The blockade, according to the claim, began on November 9, but the protesters did allow a company contracted by Teal to apply rock surfacing to prevent erosion. They resumed the blockade on November 23 and have allegedly refused to leave.
The company claims that the new roads and helicopter pad can’t be constructed once it begins to snow in the Walbran Valley. If construction isn’t completed, the company claims its conventional logging operations set to begin in spring next year will be delayed in addition to its heli-logging operations.
Teal Cedar Products seeks an injunction to stop the blockade and unspecified damages for the defendants’ “tortious conduct.” The allegations have not been tested or proven in court and the defendants had not responded to the claim by press time.
