Welcome to the Last Stand Legal Defence Fund  

THE FIGHT FOR OLD-GROWTH IS FAR FROM OVER

The BC NDP government has failed to take swift action to protect threatened old-growth forests across the province. Despite promises of both deferrals and permanent protections, ancient forests are still being clear-cut every day.  The research is clear: Moving slowly is no longer an option if we hope to have any ancient forests left for the future. 

WHO ARE WE?

We’re a small group of volunteers in a larger grassroots collective that has become known as the “ Fairy Creek Blockade .”  Over the past two years, we’ve operated as a collective of small groups and individuals under this banner. During this time over a thousand people have been arrested trying to protect old-growth forests from being clearcut and destroyed. 

Going forward, our tactics have to evolve - the BC NDP are still not listening and the trees are falling at an unprecedented rate. 

Our mission is to continue to protect old growth. To do so, we must continue to raise money to support legal campaigns associated with Fairy Creek. We will continue to seek legal justice for those arrested, for First Nations people and for the forests themselves. This is why donors like you are the real heroes!

DONATIONS TO THIS CAMPAIGN WILL SUPPORT:

• The continued effort to support those who were arrested at Fairy Creek as they navigate the colonial legal system. We’re ensuring that the people who stood UP to corporate greed, unjust laws, and colonial systems of oppression have the legal support they need throughout the court process. 
• Our Abuse of Process Case in the BC Supreme Court  - this Supreme Court case, which takes the RCMP to task for their abuses of process at Fairy Creek, could have far-reaching implications for land defenders facing RCMP across Canada (More below)
• Supporting Elder Bill Jone’s Aboriginal Rights Case  
• Ongoing education, outreach and legacy work as part of the broader movement to protect old-growth forests. We believe that the fight for old-growth forests calls for both peaceful, non-violent civil disobedience and committed thoughtful legal action. 
• Should we raise more than our goal we will give any remaining funds to an existing Legacy fund for the benefit of the Pacheedaht people. Pacheedaht members will decide how any such funds are used.

 We’ve set a goal to raise $200,000 dollars for our legal defence FUND. With your help, we’ll keep fighting on the #legalfrontlines! 

ABUSE OF PROCESS BY THE RCMP - SETTING A NEW PRECEDENT

We're currently focused on an exciting, precedent-setting case in the BC Supreme Court. Our team is arguing that the police violated people’s rights on a massive and systemic scale, and that the misconduct was to such an extent that those who were charged with contempt should not be prosecuted.

This case is crucial in holding the RCMP accountable, and it could have significant, far-reaching implications not only in Fairy Creek, but for police powers, injunction law, and police accountability from Wet’suwet’en to Landback Lane to Elsipogtog.

We hope to have over 100 people join the Application so we can show just how willfully and extensively the RCMP have been abusing their powers, including unnecessary violence, wanton destruction of property, and consistently targeting BIPOC land defenders.

The full hearing is yet to be scheduled and is likely to take place in late 2022, but our lawyers are already busy gathering witnesses, reviewing video evidence, and preparing our case. Our team is dedicated, but this work is expensive. We need your help to give this our best shot - for the sake of the movement, to send a message to the RCMP that they are not above the law, to avoid any future abuses this summer, and to set a precedent for how injunctions are enforced across Canada.

WHAT’S AT STAKE? 

Premier John Horgan promised permanent protection of old-growth forests but provided no money or alternative resource plans - which has put First Nations in an impossible position. We must keep the pressure upon the B.C. government to provide adequate funding for Indigenous Nations and forestry workers to move to sustainable forestry practices, now. Otherwise, BC’s ancient forests will be lost within a decade. 

Old-growth trees vary in size and age. The province defines coastal forests to be old growth if they contain trees that are more than 250 years old, while forests in B.C.'s Interior are considered old growth if the trees are at least 140 years old.

The most common image is of a massive moss-covered tree stretching 60 metres or more into the sky. The trunks of these trees are covered in dense bark and support a biodiverse undergrowth of lichen, fungi and flora.

Conservationists and loggers both say it's significant when trees like this — such as yellow cedars, Sitka spruce or Douglas firs — are discovered in forests. Science has proven these forests are vital to the health of our water and air and that deforestation is a driver of the climate crisis. Industry sees value in terms of short-term gains: a handful of jobs and a few hundred million to private companies (far less to First Nations).

We believe these trees are worth more standing. We also believe it is our collective responsibility to leave old-growth forests and ancient ecosystems standing and growing for generations to come. 

Thank you for helping us support the brave forest defenders and our efforts to stop old-growth logging.

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