DLA Piper wins injunction appeal for Teal Cedar Products Ltd.

On January 26, 2022, the British Columbia Court of Appeal granted Teal ‎Cedar Products Ltd.’s appeal, extending an injunction to protect Teal ‎Cedar’s forestry operations on Vancouver Island. DLA Piper represented ‎Teal Cedar on the successful appeal.‎

Teal Cedar’s forestry operations on Vancouver Island have been disrupted for over a ‎year by persistent, unlawful blockades. DLA Piper first obtained an injunction for Teal ‎Cedar on April 1, 2021. The injunction was to expire in September 2021. Teal Cedar ‎applied to the British Columbia Supreme Court to renew the injunction until September ‎‎2022, but the BC Supreme Court declined to extend the injunction. ‎

DLA Piper brought an urgent appeal to the BC Court of Appeal and on October 8, ‎‎2021, secured a temporary extension of the injunction from the Court of Appeal while ‎Teal Cedar’s appeal was pending. ‎

The Court of Appeal issued reasons on January 26, 2022 allowing Teal Cedar’s appeal ‎and extended the injunction to September 26, 2022, as Teal Cedar had requested. The ‎Court of Appeal affirmed the importance of the injunction in upholding the rule of law ‎and the democratic process‎. The Court of Appeal noted that the blockaders who ‎interfered with Teal Cedar’s operations had chosen to abandon the democratic process ‎and sought to impose their will on others by force.‎

The Court of Appeal's decision‎ can be accessed here.

DLA Piper is pleased to have represented Teal Cedar in securing this win, in which the ‎Court of Appeal affirmed the longstanding principle that the courts must come to the ‎aid of a party like ‎Teal Cedar who has been wronged by the blockaders’ illegal ‎interference.‎

The DLA Piper team was led by Dean Dalke with Alex Hudson and Emily ‎Snow also ‎appearing ‎on the appeal. They were assisted in preparing for the appeal by John ‎Landry, Q.C., Monika ‎Gehlen and Alexandra McCawley.‎