N.W.T. Green Party candidate appeals 51-day sentence for Fairy Creek protests to Supreme Court of Canada

The Green Party's federal candidate for the Northwest Territories is appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada after being handed a 51-day jail sentence by the B.C. Court of Appeal this week.

Angela Davidson, also known as Rainbow Eyes, had originally appealed a 60-day sentence for repeatedly disobeying court orders when she protested a logging operation at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island in 2021 and 2022. She was hoping to get the 60-day sentence reduced to a conditional sentence — which would have meant no jail time.

The Fairy Creek protests saw more than 1,100 people arrested for defying court orders starting in the summer of 2021. Davidson was convicted of seven offences between May 2021 and January 2022 where she violated various court and bail orders. 

In a decision Wednesday, the appeal court agreed the sentencing judge had erred, but said jail time was necessary to denounce Davidson's intentional breach of court orders and to discourage others from doing the same.

In a document laying out the court's reasons for the decision, Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten wrote that "criminal contempt has long been recognized as an offence that 'strikes at the heart of the rule of law.'"

"I do not question the sincerity of the appellant's beliefs, her commitment to her community, the genuine passion she brings to her various roles, and the importance of her continued advocacy in support of reconciliation between Indigenous people, non-Indigenous people, and the Crown," DeWitt-Van Oosten wrote.

Still, she wrote, quoting a different court decision, "voluntary choices come with consequences."

DeWitt-Van Oosten wrote that she agreed with one of Davidson's arguments, that the sentencing judge had misapplied a principle that aims to avoid discouraging rehabilitation of people who commit multiple offences.

That misapplication was enough for the court to reduce her sentence from 60 to 51 days.

Davidson is now appealing the reduced sentence to the Supreme Court of Canada. She was released on bail Thursday pending that appeal.

In an interview Thursday afternoon, Davidson called the Court of Appeal's ruling "a small win," since it lessened her sentence.

"The whole reason why we're doing this — and I say 'we,' because it was Canada's largest act of civil disobedience — is we stood together for the forest, for Mother Earth, for Indigenous sovereignty. And we did it for our ancestors and the next seven generations, so it feels really good to do this work," she said.

She said she wasn't sure if she would still be coming up to the N.W.T. during the federal election campaign.

Her lawyer, Benjamin Isitt, told CBC bail conditions don't prohibit her from travelling to the territory. They require Davidson to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, to report by phone to her bail supervisor, and, if she engages in any protest, that they must be lawful and safe.

Isitt said their appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada will argue the appeal court did not give enough weight to the Gladue factors that have played a role in her life and her role as a land guardian.

In a news release Thursday, the Green Party said it is standing by Davidson.

"As Rainbow Eyes is a nominated candidate for the Northwest Territories, the Green Party of Canada is honoured to have a courageous Indigenous land defender as deputy leader," the news release stated.

"Rainbow Eyes stands with Martin Luther King jr, Gandhi and all figures of human history who teach us to honour and prioritize the eternal laws, and how the rules made by men, quite literally, must mirror something greater."