Parker Lands owner takes second shot at turfing protesters

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This article was published 28/07/2017 (3004 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of the Parker Lands is appealing Wednesday’s court decision that denied a request to immediately remove protesters who are camped on the land to halt the clear-cutting of trees on the 42-acre site.

Justice Herbert Rempel’s decision undermines the rule of law, will result in an escalation of the conflict and sets a dangerous precedent encouraging criminal activity, said Kevin Toyne, lawyer for Gem Equities Inc.

In their appeal to the higher court, Toyne will seek to have the injunction against the protesters approved.

There is currently no timeline for when the motion will go before the Manitoba Court of Appeal, but Andrew Marquess (owner of Gem Equities) will make himself available at the earliest possible date, Toyne said.

“The plaintiffs have the right to appeal and they are exercising that right in the hopes the Court of Appeal will hear them on an urgent basis and remove the trespassers from the property,” Toyne said. “The concern is that people who are inclined to break the law will interpret the decision not to hear the motion as an opportunity to go out and break the law themselves.”

If approved, the appeal will allow the matter to go before the courts earlier than the Nov. 2 court date set by Justice Rempel. Toyne will also seek to have the costs of the appeal reimbursed.

Jenna Vandal, leader of the Rooster Town Blockade, which has been camped on the land since July 14, said she is not concerned by the renewed attempt to turf them from the land.

“I’m ready to go back to court. I know why I’m here. They weren’t able to prove irreparable harm the first time, so I highly doubt they will succeed the second time,” she said.

When asked to respond to claims a protester followed a Gem Equities employee around the property holding an axe, Vandal said she wasn’t present at the time but doubted it happened.

She did confirm protesters have an axe on the property, but said it is only for cutting firewood. “We are here to fight with words, not weapons.”

Court documents filed by Toyne characterize Rempel’s decision as “so wrong as to amount to a grave injustice,” and claim the legal requirements for an injunction were met in court.

“People have to remember they (the protesters) are breaking the law. They are not the ones on the right side of the law here,” he said.

When contacted for a reaction to the appeal, Cal Dueck, spokesman for the Parker Wetlands Conservation Committee and a defendant in the case, said he was unsurprised by the move.

“He (Marquess) loves to use the courts as his personal servants,” Dueck said. “He thinks money should decide everything and the courts should be at his beck and call. It’s a waste of taxpayer money when he’s trying to push this when there is really no need to at the moment.”

Whatever the outcome of the conflict, Dueck hopes no more trees will be cut until the fall, when birds that have nested there will have been given the chance to migrate.

He added Marquess’s claim he would be within his legal right to remove the protesters by force is “concerning.”

“I’m really disturbed by it. He issues a public threat saying he could use any means possible to remove the protesters,” Dueck said in reference to a statement by Marquess in court documents.

“It could seriously escalate things and has the potential to get people hurt.”

When asked to respond to Dueck’s comments, Toyne said the owners are entitled to remove people trespassing on their property.

“If someone was camping out on Dueck’s front yard, wearing a mask and holding an axe, saying they own the property now, he’d have the right to do the same if the police wouldn’t.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca