#Burnaby trans mountain tanks trial

Rather than disputing Leyden’s actions, the RCMP joined the circle and passed the pipe around with the rest of the group. “I wanted to make sure people walked away in a good way.” “I said to them, ‘We’re going to finish the ceremony, we’ll pass the pipe around four times, and then we’ll pray, shake hands, and we’ll go.’ We did exactly that,” said Leyden. Leyden said he told the two RCMP officers he was about to conduct a pipe ceremony. “I stayed until five minutes after the last person from the media left,” said Leyden, “then came over to the blockade.” He’d invited the media to learn about “contaminated soil” he’d seen being loaded onto trucks and shipped off the Burnaby Mountain site to the lands of kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem Nation).

“I was only there for 20 minutes of the hour and a half that ,” said Leyden, who was situated at the “old Camp Cloud” site, opposite the entrance to the tank farm. In December of 2019, Leyden, as usual, was there as a watchman and with his ceremonial pipe to keep the peace. “Trans Mountain and the Crown are targeting Indigenous land defenders and using us as an example to scare others from confronting the pipeline expansion project,” said Leyden. There have been dozens of arrests of people who have defied the TMX Injunction since it was first implemented. Of the twelve people that participated in the pipe ceremony, the only people arrested were the two Indigenous people, Jim Leyden and Stacy Gallagher, also Anishinaabe.īoth Leyden and Gallagher served a separate 28 days in jail for defying the injunction in 2018, along with a third land defender, Tawahum Bige. So when his lawyer called him nearly three weeks later with news that a warrant was out for his arrest, he didn’t know why. “If they looked antsy, I might bring in earlier to remind people to be peaceful.”Īccording to Leyden, there was nothing remarkable about the pipe ceremony he conducted on December 2, 2019. “Usually, at the end of the day, I’d just kind of wander the crowd,” he said.

Leyden said the police participated in his pipe ceremonies more than 30 times during his time at the Kwekwecnewtxw leading up to the arrest. “We’d invite anyone in who wanted to join, the security guards, the police were constantly showing up.” “I was asked to bring my chanupa (ceremonial pipe) and just try to keep the peace,” said Leyden. He’s been monitoring from the Kwekwecnewtxw since it was first built in 2018. Leyden, who is 70-years-old and identifies as Anishinaabe, was invited by Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Elders to conduct ceremonies and monitor activities from the Kwekwecnewtxw (Coast Salish watch house), built adjacent to the “Burnaby Mountain” tank farm. She also pointed to video evidence of Leyden with protesters at the injunction site, concluding that Leyden “physically, obstructed, impeded and prevented access by Trans Mountain’s personnel and contractors to gain access to and exit from the Burnaby Terminal.” In her judgment, Fitzpatrick found that because Leyden had notice of the injunction, he was, therefore, in breach of it. To convict Leyden of criminal contempt, the Crown had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he physically prevented access of Trans Mountain employees and that he did so knowingly and in a public way.

On July 25, a three-judge panel unanimously found that Fitzpatrick “erred” (made an error) in her “mens rea” (criminal contempt) determination. Together with his lawyer, Michelle Silongan, they filed for an appeal. “I have this idea that it’s only punishment if you make it punishment,” said Leyden in an interview. Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick found Leyden guilty of criminal contempt, and he was later sentenced to 45 days imprisonment.

Police took part in pipe ceremonies before Elder’s arrest

#Burnaby trans mountain tanks trial

Appeal Court ordered a new trial for Leyden, but at a court hearing on August 2, representatives from Trans Mountain Pipeline and the BC Prosecution Service determined there was no longer a substantial likelihood of conviction at trial - marking the first Court of Appeal victory for any of the Trans Mountain Pipeline injunction cases. An injunction order has been in place since June 1, 2018. Stehm Mechok Kanim (Jim Leyden) was found guilty in 2020 after conducting the ceremony near a construction site for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) project at Lhuḵw’lhuḵw’áyten (Burnaby Mountain) in 2019.

Supreme Court judge made an error when she convicted an Elder after he held a pipe ceremony outside of a Trans Mountain terminal, according to a ruling from the province’s highest court. Watch house guardian Stehm Mechok Kanim (Jim Leyden) is escorted by police in 2018 after an injunction order was placed at the TMX terminal in “Burnaby.” Photo: Protect the InletĪ B.C.