A Vancouver Provincial Court judge has reserved decision on whether to sentence Muhammad Zain Ul Haq to jail for repeatedly blocking traffic in Vancouver and Richmond and reneging on his promises to stop. Muhammad pleaded guilty to five charges of mischief for his role in illegal Extinction Rebellion road and bridge blockades in 2021, and one charge of breaching a release order for a protest on the Cambie Bridge. Crown prosecutor Ellen Leno asked Judge Reginald Harris last month to send Haq to jail for 90 days and impose 18 months of probation. On Thursday, Haq’s lawyer, Ben Isitt, argued for a conditional discharge. …The court heard that should Haq succeed in overturning his deportation on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, he has a job waiting for him … Tzeporah Berman from Stand.earth said she would “personally … facilitate Zain’s acceptance into my organization/campaigns that are lobbying governments via legal means.”

A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed by two people who attempted to document the protests against the logging of old growth forests at Fairy Creek in 2021. Arvin Singh Dang, a professional photographer and teacher, and Kristy Morgan, owner of a media production company, are suing the Attorney General of Canada, alleging that RCMP policies and tactics in enforcing an injunction order at the Fairy Creek logging protest camp violated the charter rights of members of the public, media and protesters. “This action is brought to uphold the charter rights and fundamental freedoms of the public and to hold the RCMP accountable for its unlawful and egregious conduct … in Fairy Creek,” says the civil notice …Lawyer David Wu … predicts the class action will affect hundreds of people. “We’re seeking redress for people who were impacted by those exclusion zones. They should be rightfully compensated for having their constitutional freedoms infringed on,” said Wu.

MISSION, BC — The Mission forestry department reported declining profits and issues with climate change to council in their quarterly report. Director of Forestry Chris Gruenwald presented the report to council and revealed a total net profit of $848,870 in 2022 and a $183,270 net profit in the fourth quarter. The 2022 budget forecasted a year-end net profit of $624,519 and in 2021 yielded a net profit of $2,757,430. Meanwhile, the 2o21 fourth-quarter profit was $606,263 with 2022 projections at $561,017. …Looking ahead, Gruenfeld says climate change presents a significant challenge to the forestry operation and the department is undertaking several initiatives to combat the problem. “The Department is working with UBC Faculty of Forestry on completion of a climate change vulnerability assessment for the municipal forest and will be contributing funding in 2023 for two climate change related studies in the forest”.

David Elstone

To correct Ben Parfitt… Mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the Interior’s lodgepole pine forests are a natural phenomenon. In the late 1990s and early 2000s these outbreaks expanded into an epidemic with the amount of pine being killed each year reaching a peak in 2005. …Faced with such a catastrophe, the government had two options: 1. Do nothing and let the dead timber decay; or 2. Encourage the industry to use as much of the decaying timber as possible by temporarily increasing the harvest before it rotted. The later scenario was adopted, and a significant volume of dead pine was salvaged, which in turn created jobs and boosted the local rural economies. At the same time, salvage harvesting created the opportunity for the prompt regeneration of these vast dead forests (thereby restarting the land base’s forest carbon absorption engine). Yes, harvesting, and lumber production rose to levels well above historical averages, but it was done with intention – this was no secret! 

I am speaking for the silent majority who are tired of the media and special interest groups vilifying the forest industry that has supported our hospitals, schools, recreational parks, arenas, and roads for generations of British Columbians, not to mention all of the homes we live in.  The B.C. forest industry and the harvesting of the North Cowichan forest reserve is nothing like the Amazon deforestation, and I blame the media for spreading this misinformation. Our forestry practices, and legal biological regulations are world renowned for ensuring ecologically sustainable management. The media continues to promote a narrative filled with mistruth and not based on renewable forest management. …There is misinformation circulating in North Cowichan that our forest reserve can supply taxpayers with more income from a carbon credit program than the mild harvesting that has occurred since 1946.