A5X strategizing before entering court Monday morning.
About 20 members of the Wakefield community, Ecojustice lawyer Will Amos and Council of Canadians staff were present at the Palais de Justice in Hull yesterday. As reported by Ottawa Metro News, “The group protesting the expansion of Highway 5 through La Pêche is scheduled to appear in court Monday morning as Transport Quebec is seeking an injunction to stop them from blocking construction. The protest group, A5X has been ‘occupying’ the Gatineau Park area near Wakefield, blocking machinery and sitting in trees to prevent the clearing of 200 to 300-year-old trees that they assert are part of Gatineau Park.”
Unfortunately, late yesterday afternoon Judge Pierre Dallaire ruled in favour of the Ministry of Transportation and granted a provisional injunction against the protest. Dallaire made this order, in part, on the basis of the MTQ’s claim that it would take six weeks to cut the woods and the ‘urgency’ of doing so prior to a March 31 deadline in which, under Quebec law, cutting must stop to protect nesting birds. This despite expert testimony from ornithologist Ian Huggett that the type of birds that frequent the area’s forests do not return until late-May.
The group will next appear in court on Monday March 5 for an interlocutory hearing to present their case on why the construction of the highway should be stopped. While the group hopes for a successful outcome at this hearing, the provisional injunction allows Couillard Construction about 7 days to proceed with the clearcutting of the forest in the area. There are clearly concerns that the 300-year-old white pine tree and a large swath of the forest could be cut during this period, and that local wells and the aquifer could also be contaminated.
While people have occupied the trees in the area, the provisional injunction authorizes the local police and the Surete Quebec “to take the necessary actions for the injunction to be respected.” A lawyer was contacted to offer legal advice to the Occupy activists last night on the implications for them should they continue with their protest given the granting of the injunction.
For Council of Canadians campaign blogs highlighting the efforts to protect the woods and water in this area, please go to http://canadians.org/blog/?s=%22wakefield%22+%2B+%22highway%22.
