In oral reasons for judgment pronounced today, Mr. Justice Grist has granted an injunction to Peter Kiewit Sons Co. to retrain demonstrators from physically obstructing their planned construction activities at Eagleridge Bluffs. He dismissed an application for an injunction sought by members of the Eagleridge Bluffs & Wetlands Preservation Society in a claim that alleged that the contractor hadn’t satisfied the preconditions to commencing construction.

We have instructions to apply for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal and to seek a stay pending the appeal. The applications will be heard by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, May 30, 2006.

UPDATE: On May 24, 2006, Grist J. granted an “enforcement order’ authorizing the police to do what they already had the power to do-arrest alleged violators of the injunction order. On May 25, 2006, West Vancouver police arrested 23 people and released them on their promises to appear in BC Supreme Court on June 9, 2006. Nobody has been charged with an offence, however. The arrestees will attend to see what, if anything, the BC Attorney General and the Court decide to do with them.

Read the reasons for judgment

After hearing 6 1/2 days of submissions triggered by an application for an injunction to restrain people from demonstrating at Eagleridge Bluffs, Mr. Justice William Grist has reserved judgment in the case.

He is expected to deliver his decision at 12:00 noon on Monday, May 15, 2006 at the Law Courts, 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver, BC.

For more on the background to this case, please go to www.eagleridge.ca

With his latest album, “Living With War”, Neil Young has produced a masterpiece – a clarion call for action against the misguided and destructive foreign policies of the Bush administration.

I am no music critic, so I will let others critique the riffs, melodies and harmonies that Young uses to drive home his message. That message is one for the ages; a scathing, devastating and eloquent attack on President George W. Bush and his decision to invade Iraq.

As one of hundreds of thousands who futilely marched in the streets in the spring of 2003 to attempt to dissuade Bush and Blair from launching their “shock and awe” campaign, I hope that this brilliant piece of work empowers those who feel they lack the ability to influence the decisionmakers.

The album can be heard for free at www.neilyoung.com

God and Allah bless Neil Young!

Opponents of the B.C. Government’s plan to build a multiple lane highway through the unique ecosystems above Horseshoe Bay have squared off in B.C. Supreme Court against the government, the P3 partnership and the construction contractor.

The court proceedings were triggered by the contractor’s legal action against Dennis Perry, Bruce McArthur, John Doe and Jane Doe. The contractor, Peter Kiewit Sons Co., is seeking an injunction against all those who have been camped out in the area of the Bluffs in a peaceful demonstration designed to express their opposition to the government’s plan. The demonstrators’ non-profit society has responded with a legal action of its own alleging that environmental considerations have not been adequately taken into account. It too seeks an injunction, to shut down the work until all applicable environmental protection rules have been followed.

Mr. Justice William Grist has heard from lawyers for both sides on May 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 11th, 2006. The hearing continues at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 12th with more legal argument.

For more, please go to www.eagleridgebluffs.ca

Finally, on a Thursday before a four day holiday weekend, and three and a half months later than its self-imposed deadline, Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. (“CLCO”) has issued its “Final Project Report: Competitive Selection Phase”, complete with a “Review Engagement Report of the Auditor General of British Columbia”.

CLCO has trumpeted that its report concludes “Canada Line expected to deliver value for money” and that the Auditor General’s report “fairly describes the assumptions, context, decisions, procurement process and results to date of the Canada Line rapid transit project.” What smoke and mirrors.

First, the smoke: The report has an effective date of July 29, 2005 and says nothing about what has happened over the last nine months. Further, as Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer has pointed out, CLCO reached its optimistic conclusions by comparing its yet to be built P3 project with an imaginary public project, called a “public sector comparator”. For reasons that are not clear, and cannot withstand scrutiny, the Canada Line is said to generate prospective ridership revenues that will be $148 million higher than a comparable project built by the public sector. These revenues have themselved been calculated using ridership projections that have been roundly criticised as unrealistic. As if the wispy projections of costs aren’t enough, costs remain shrouded in mist. The Concession Agreement has had all its financial data on costs expunged, and nobody has yet explained how a project said to cost $1.72 billion in February of 2005 suddenly cost $2.05 billion by July of that same year.

Next, the mirrors: How do the folks at the Auditor General’s office look at themselves in their mirrors in the morning? Here’s what the Auditor General has concluded about his review of the one of the most expensive taxpayer-funded projects in British Columbia history:

“…actual results and future events, in particular ridership and ridership revenue, could differ materially from the results discussed or implied. Accordingly, I express no opinion as to whether the expected results will be achieved.”

No opinion? Are we, the province’s taxpayers, paying this supposed watchdog to provide no opinion on something as fundamental as the project’s revenues?