Green Party deputy leader released pending appeal of jail sentence for Fairy Creek protests
British Columbia's highest court has ordered the Green Party of Canada's deputy leader to be released from custody pending her appeal of a 60-day jail sentence for her role in old-growth logging protests on Vancouver Island.
Angela Davidson, also known as Rainbow Eyes, was convicted earlier this year of seven counts of criminal contempt for breaching a court injunction blocking protesters from disrupting logging activities in the Fairy Creek watershed.
Davidson, who was named the deputy leader of the federal Green Party in February, was arrested the first time at Fairy Creek in May 2021 for breaching the inunction granted to timber company Teal Cedar Products.
She was subsequently arrested six more times in 2021 and 2022, including for breaching her bail conditions, when she returned to the old-growth logging blockade near Port Renfrew, on southwestern Vancouver Island.
The deputy leader was sentenced on April 24 to spend 60 days in jail, less 12 days for time already served.
Davidson filed an appeal of her sentence two days later, and was ordered released on bail Monday pending the appeal hearing, according to the B.C. Appeal Court and the B.C. Prosecution Service.
A spokesperson for the court said the Crown did not oppose granting Davidson leave for appeal, nor did it oppose granting her release from custody pending the appeal hearing.
Davidson issued a statement Monday, saying her efforts to "braid the laws" of the Crown and Indigenous communities will continue.
"We are in a time of reconciliation and action, raising awareness about our collective history and duties in the face of the ecological and humanitarian crises in our world," the statement said.
Bill Jones, an elder of the Pacheedaht First Nation in Port Renfrew, testified at Davidson's trial that he invited her and others to come to the area to defend the old-growth forests from logging.
"Rainbow Eyes was and is faithful to that cause and continues to show strength and dedication in her resolve in the protection of our great mother’s gift to us," Jones said in a statement.
Davidson had been incarcerated at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge, B.C., since her sentencing last week.
Under the terms of her release, Davidson must surrender to authorities on Nov. 25 unless an appeal hearing date has been set by that time, in which case she must surrender into custody on the day the appeal judgment is delivered, according to the prosecution service.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Board orders deportation for trucker in horrific Humboldt Broncos crash
The truck driver who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team has been ordered to be deported.
Italian teenage computer wizard set to become the first saint of the millennial generation
Pope Francis paved the way for the canonization of the first saint of the millennial generation on Thursday, attributing a second miracle to a 15-year-old Italian computer whiz who died of leukemia in 2006.
Milk sold in Canadian grocery stores tested for avian influenza; results released
As avian flu spreads south of the border, Canadian officials are now testing samples of milk sold in grocery stores across the country.
Morgan Spurlock, Oscar-nominated director of 'Super Size Me,' dies at 53
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life's work, famously eating only at McDonald's for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.
'A really bad car crash': Why health experts are raising concerns over surging syphilis cases
A sexually transmitted infection (STI) that was once thought to be a thing of the past is now a public health priority for North American doctors.
Top Russian military officials are being arrested. Why is it happening?
It began last month with the arrest of a Russian deputy defense minister. Then the head of the ministry’s personnel directorate was hauled into court. This week, two more senior military officials were detained. All face charges of corruption, which they have denied.
Leaving time on the table: Surveys show unused paid vacation, 'quiet vacationing'
'Quiet vacationing' is the latest new term to describe the rough edges of office culture, and survey data shows it's widespread among North American workers.
Toddler dies after being struck by recycling truck in Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood
A toddler has died after being struck by a recycling truck in a Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood on Thursday afternoon.
Helicopters, impersonations and squeezing through the fence: a brief history of Quebec prison escapes
Friday's warrant for prison inmate Yacine Zouaoui, 32, is the latest in hundreds of reported prison breaks in Quebec. Sometimes, they just walked away; sometimes they went through a fence, and twice they used a helicopter.