Group proposes class-action lawsuit against B.C. old-growth logging blockaders

A group opposed to environmental blockades of roads and bridges in British Columbia says it may launch a class-action lawsuit against old-growth logging protesters who have vowed to ramp up disruptions of "critical infrastructure" next week.

Organizers of the Clear the Road campaign say they are considering suing the protesters for damages incurred by drivers during Save Old Growth protests.

"Are you a tradesperson who lost work? Were you unable to tend to your store? Did merchandise being delivered spoil or fail to reach its destination, causing your business a loss?" said organizer Tamara Meggitt, a pro-forestry industry campaigner on Vancouver Island, in a news release Friday.

"If any of these things apply, we would like to hear from you," she said.

The Clear The Road campaign was initiated by the Victoria-based resource development group Resource Works.

The campaign says it would base its lawsuit on the precedent of Ottawa residents who filed a suit to freeze the assets of Freedom Convoy protesters during their occupation of the city earlier this year.

"Save Old Growth is purely a nuisance campaign," said Meggitt. "It isn't environmentalism to block roads and force hundreds of drivers to burn extra fuel idling in an artificial traffic jam. That's hypocrisy, and has a real impact on people's lives."

Resource Works said in a statement that indiscriminate blockades "hurt the innocent, and risk creating a backlash against progress in responsible forest practices."

Zain Haq, one of the cofounders of Save Old Growth, said the group is not worried about the lawsuit threat.

"When we disrupt the highways, we're doing many things at the same time," Haq told CTV News. "People are causing economic disruption to the government and they're provoking a debate in society about an existential issue that needs to be debated upon."

'EVIDENCE OF DAMAGES IS NECESSARY'

Clear The Road campaigners launched a petition last month that calls on police and municipalities to clear old-growth logging protesters from roadways as quickly as possible.

The campaigners say the petition has gathered nearly 1,000 signatures.

"We were very encouraged by the response from police forces we spoke to," Meggitt said. "They know the law as well as anyone, and now we must rely on Crown prosecutors to follow up."

Meggitt is asking anyone who is stalled by a blockade to document any harms they suffer as a result and share it with campaigners via email at [e-mail].

"Evidence of damages is necessary so we can work with a law firm to get a class-action lawsuit underway," she said.

The Clear The Road campaign says monitors are planning to be on hand where possible to provide relief to stranded motorists.

On Thursday, Save Old Growth warned it would "disrupt critical infrastructure in B.C." starting on Monday.

The activists declined to provide specifics about who or what will be targeted, saying in a statement they "won’t announce the disruptions in advance, but they will be posted on social media when they begin."

The group made headlines last month when members dumped manure outside B.C. Premier John Horgan's constituency office in Langford, B.C.

Prior actions by the group have mostly involved blockading roads and bridges on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.