Judge rules against B.C. logging company’s request to probe environmentalists’ social media info

NEW DENVER — A B.C. Supreme Court judge has rejected a logging company’s request for a court order allowing them to probe into the social media of members of a Kootenay environmental group.

Madam Justice Lindsay Lyster released her decision in favour of Last Stand West Kootenay last week, saying granting the request by Cooper Creek Cedar would “not be in the interests of justice” and would suppress legitimate, peaceful protest.

The company had sought a so-called Norwich order requiring a third-party, such as a social media company, to provide information.

She said that granting such as order for information about Last Stand would “would have a chilling effect” on the group and others “engaging in expressive and associational activities in support of their political and social aims,” Lyster wrote in her March 27 judgment.

Cooper Creek Cedar had applied for the order in September, saying the online activities of Last Stand West Kootenay supporters had done it financial harm. It has faced protests by Last Stand West Kootenay for its activities in an area called the Argenta Face, at the north end of Kootenay Lake.