Green Party leader Elizabeth May arrested March 23 for breaking court-imposed protest-free zone in Burnaby. File Photo courtesy Twitter/Anita Bathe.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May appeared in B.C. Supreme Court Monday facing civil contempt charges after protesting against the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion in Burnaby in March.
But a provincial court judge has recommended that May and other protesters that appeared for their first appearance Monday should face criminal charges, instead of going to civil court.
May and Burnaby South M.P. Kennedy Stewart are among the thousands of people to rally against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion last month.
On March 23, May and Stewart joined opponents of the pipeline at Kinder Morgan’s Burnaby terminal and were arrested for violating a court order to stay at least five metres away from the Kinder Morgan work site.
Kennedy Stewart, NDP MP for Burnaby South, was also arrested on March 23. Photo courtesy CBC/Anita Bathe.
Civil contempt is not a criminal offence, but the judge said the recommendation is based on the alleged contempt being against the court-ordered ban and not the company.
The B.C. Prosecution Service is deciding whether to take over and the case that has been adjourned for a week.
On Sunday, Kinder Morgan announced it was suspending all non-essential work and spending on the $7.4 billion pipeline expansion, which would triple the amount of bitumen flowing from Alberta to Burnaby.
The company based its decision on legal challenges from the B.C. government to protect its shareholders.
A May 31 deadline is in place to reach an agreement on how to proceed.
With files from CBC.
Andy Neal
