Federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says criminal-contempt charges against her will not limit her parliamentary or leadership duties or how she serves Saanich-Gulf Islands residents.
“It’s not a Criminal Code offence. It doesn’t mean I have a criminal record, it doesn’t affect my ability to serve as a member of Parliament, it doesn’t affect my ability to travel,” May said in an interview from Salt Spring Island.
The B.C. Prosecution Service announced on Monday two special prosecutors independently concluded criminal-contempt charges are warranted against May and former NDP MP Kennedy Stewart for protesting Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion at a work site on March 23.
“We’re going through a legal process,” said May. “There’s nothing really surprising that happened today.”
Justice Kenneth Affleck appointed the special prosecutors in April after he called for the criminal-contempt charges to be laid against the demonstrators who are accused of violating a court injunction preventing such demonstrations within five metres of a Kinder Morgan work site in Burnaby.
Stewart, a Vancouver mayoral candidate, pleaded guilty to the charge in B.C. Supreme Court. He was ordered to pay a fine of $500 by Friday.
May is scheduled to appear in court on May 28.
Vancouver lawyer Greg DelBigio, appointed to review May’s case, has not had full disclosure from the RCMP, said May.
“Kennedy Stewart’s case and my case appear to me to be virtually identical, but I’m not aware of what the RCMP disclosure is or what the special prosecutor might conclude, so I don’t want to speculate in a way that suggests I know what’s going to happen.”
May said while it’s a criminal matter before the court, in the conventional sense, it’s not.
“It takes it to a more serious level to call it criminal contempt rather than civil contempt,” said May. “The quality of the actions and the non-violent civil disobedience which took place on March 23 isn’t different because of the charges changing to criminal contempt, but the punishment might change.”
“It’s a process I respect,” said May. She said she takes responsibility for her actions.
The current Trans Mountain pipeline was built in 1953 and moves about 300,000 barrels a day of crude and refined petroleum products from Strathcona County near Edmonton to Burnaby.
Kinder Morgan applied to the National Energy Board in December 2013 to twin the existing line, tripling capacity to 890,000 barrels a day.
The Canadian government approved the 1,700-kilometre pipeline expansion project on Nov. 29, 2016, saying the pipeline is in the national interest. Alberta said the $7.4-billion pipeline gives the province access to overseas markets. B.C. opposes the project, with the provincial government saying it is defending the coast from a potentially catastrophic spill.
May wouldn’t comment about whether she regrets taking part in the protest, but will continue to oppose the pipeline.
“I certainly will continue to oppose Kinder Morgan and do everything I can to make it clear that the process that took place before the National Energy Board did not respect my rights as an intervener.”
The Federal Court of Appeal is hearing a consolidated lawsuit that features arguments against the pipeline from seven First Nations, environmental organizations, and the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby. The case challenges the adequacy of the National Energy Board’s review of the pipeline proposal.
“We were deprived of basic participatory rights protected by rules of natural justice and procedural fairness that go back generations,” said May, “but those are matters that are still before a different court.”
“I’m anxiously awaiting the decision of the federal court of appeal as to whether the permits that were granted to Kinder Morgan were granted legally,” said May.
