Derek Menard will learn his sentence in the coming weeks for his role in a pair of highway blockades aimed at promoting climate change awareness. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

highway protests

Nanaimo man awaits punishment for causing pair of highway blockades

Jan 12, 2023 | 5:22 AM

NANAIMO — A brief jail sentence is possible for a man at the centre of a pair blockades on the Trans Canada Highway on Vancouver Island last spring.

Sentencing arguments for Derek Hugh Menard took place Wednesday, Jan 11 after he pleaded guilty to mischief and intimidation by obstructing a highway last year in Nanaimo and Langford.

The 33-year-old scientist and longtime political activist joined several others in briefly blocking Trans Canada Hwy. traffic on April 8. 2022 in Chase River, while he helped orchestrate a lengthy disruption several days later north of Victoria.

“Which of course is ironic because this is a protest about climate change and it leads the Crown to submit it’s a very misguided form of protest,” Crown Counsel’s Joel Gold said in reference to idling vehicles releasing carbon into the atmosphere during the incidents.

He argued for a two week jail tenure for Menard followed by probation before judge Brian Harvey in provincial court in Nanaimo.

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While relaying an agreed statement of facts, Gold said Menard super-glued his hand to the highway in south Nanaimo at Cranberry Ave., blocking southbound traffic for 45 minutes.

Several protesters were on scene, some holding signs, and others held a large ‘Save Old Growth’ banner draped across the southbound lanes of the highway at the busy Cranberry Rd. intersection.

Another man was also arrested, while Menard was taken into custody and released from Nanaimo RCMP cells several hours later.

On April 20, Gold stated Menard breached his release conditions issued by police when he and a co-accused had their hands inside a concrete-filed barrel in the single northbound lane near the West Shore Parkway intersection.

A specialized RCMP obstacle removal team had to be called in to safely remove Menard and the other primary demonstrator from the barrel.

Frustrations mounted from motorists, including some attempting to move the barrel and others grabbing signs from demonstrators positioned on the highway’s shoulder.

Alternating traffic flow was established after police arrived, however traffic was congested for about four hours.

While the Langford disruption didn’t lead to any life-altering effects, Gold said many people were negatively impacted for a variety of reasons.

Co-accused Elizabeth Helen Stewart was handed 18 months probation after she pleaded guilty for her role in the Langford civil disobedience case.

In a separate incident, Menard, a Nanaimo based biologist, was arrested in May 2021 for embedding himself in a logging road at Fairy Creek near Port Renfrew.

On April 11, 2022 he was was sentenced by a BC Supreme Court Justice for contempt of court and fined $1,500 for his actions at Fairy Creek.

Menard’s lawyer, Elizabeth Strain, spoke at length for nearly an hour lobbying on her client’s behalf.

She expanded on numerous mainstream news articles outlining various extreme weather events in the province due to fires, excessive heat and flooding, which she said were incidents that distressed Menard.

She said Menard is not a radical person.

“The court also has to look how the public are going to see the courts in response to good, ethical people being arrested and imprisoned,” Strain said.

She requested a conditional discharge or suspended sentence.

Menard is articulate, selfless and has lobbied to get the attention of politicians and the public regrading how human actions harm the environment, Strain noted.

A psychiatrist determined Menard is deeply impacted by climate change who believed Menard’s depressed mood prompted his civil disobedience.

Numerous character reference letters were presented to the court on behalf of Menard, including Nanaimo city councillor and former Federal Green Party MP Paul Manly.

Menard addressed the judge by relaying various alarming metrics regarding rising surface and ocean temperatures.

His address was interrupted early on by the Crown, who took issue with Menard lecturing the court about scientific and academic information which can’t be confirmed.

Menard argued unsustainably warming climates in parts of the world will lead to widespread forced migration.

He told the judge future violent conflicts over food and water are legitimate threats.

Menard said he doesn’t consider himself an environmentalist, or an activist, but rather a regular person reacting to an emergency he’s well educated in.

“I just want to be very clear, I am sincerely sorry for any distress I caused here, that’s not my intention — my intention is to save lives.”

Judge Harvey reserved his decision for a future date.

Menard told NanaimoNewsNOW outside court he will obey the rule of law.

“I’m going to be required to avoid illegal protest in the future, but I will certainly continue to make a ruckus because my entire life is centered around this and people will still be hearing from me.”

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes