MiningWatch Canada will be back in court nearly two months after the crown attempted to stay their private prosecution against the BC Government and the Mount Polley Mining Corporation.
Program coordinator, Ugo LaPointe says they will be back at Williams Lake Provincial Court on March 27, 2017.
“That was just set this week. Mining Watch Canada will be present, and the public prosecution service of Canada will be there too. At that point, we will be arguing that MiningWatch should have a right to present the evidence to court.”
LaPointe says the 2014 tailings pond breach resulted in damages to fish habitat in violation of the Canadian Fisheries Act.
He says the hearing will be open to the public.
An online advocacy group currently has launched a petition campaign urging the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, to hold Imperial Metals accountable for the disaster.
LaPointe says SumOfUs has collected close to 20,000 signatures in less than two days.
“Like many Canadians and many British Columbians right now, everybody is in a bit of shock that almost 3 years after the spill that no government has laid charges. And then the ongoing investigation of the Crown Prosecutor; we don’t know how close it is to being done or not.”
The spill according to MiningWatch Canada destroyed or affected at least 2,612,470 m2 of aquatic and riparian habitats—equivalent to about 500 football fields or 1500 ice hockey rinks.