Red Chris Development Company Ltd. V. Quock, 2015 BCSC 589

Red Chris Development Company Ltd. V. Quock, 2015 BCSC 589 In this case, the British Columbia Supreme Court awarded costs against members of an Aboriginal group arising out of their illegal blockade of the plaintiff's mine.

Red Chris sought special costs arising out of its successful application for an injunction and enforcement order to restrain the defendants from blockading access roads to Red Chris' mine. The same individuals had previously blockaded the same mine access road and had a history of disobeying injunctions in the absence of enforcement orders.

The Court rejected the defendants' argument that costs should not be awarded because the defendants were public interest litigants. While Red Chris' mining operation and attendant environmental impact on the defendants' traditional Aboriginal territorial may well be publically important matters, the defendants' illegal blockade of the access roads was not. The Court noted that public interest is relevant to costs when the public interest is properly pursued in...