“The RCMP script did not transmit sufficient information about the terms of the injunction order, and the information that was delivered via this script was not accurate and clear,” Thompson’s ruling said.
B.C. Civil Liberties Association President Karen Mirsky, who has defended several clients facing contempt charges for protests at Fairy Creek, said police didn’t follow long-standing legal principles when they failed to read the full injunction. She said the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group was responsible for enforcement actions at Fairy Creek, and the charge withdrawals resulted from police not “having the wherewithal to stand in one place and read an injunction fully and hand a copy of an injunction to an individual who is protesting.”