Ottawa — The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to hear an appeal from Green Party deputy leader Angela (Rainbow Eyes) Davidson over her jail sentence linked to the 2021 Fairy Creek old-growth logging protests.
Davidson, from the Da’naxda’xw First Nation, was convicted on seven counts of criminal contempt for repeatedly violating an injunction granted to logging company Teal Cedar. She was originally sentenced to 60 days in jail, later reduced to 31 days by the B.C. Court of Appeal.
On Thursday, the country’s top court denied her application for a further appeal, finalizing her sentence of 31 days in custody, alongside 18 months of probation and 75 hours of community service.
“We’re disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided not to hear the appeal,” her lawyer Ben Isitt told CBC News, arguing that the case raised important issues about the sentencing of Indigenous people and the application of Gladue principles.
The Green Party expressed solidarity in a statement: “The Green Party of Canada stands in unwavering solidarity with Rainbow Eyes. We will continue to fight for a system that upholds justice, protects the environment, and honours Indigenous rights.”
Davidson was a central figure in what became Canada’s largest act of civil disobedience, when thousands occupied roads in the Fairy Creek area in 2021 to block old-growth logging. While many contempt charges against protesters were later dismissed because the RCMP had not properly read the injunction, Davidson faced harsher sentencing due to multiple violations.
Her actions included chaining her neck to a gate in May 2021, breaching bail conditions by returning to the injunction zone to protest, and later re-entering to deliver food and join a search for a missing person.
Ahead of her sentencing last year, Davidson told reporters outside a Nanaimo courthouse: “There is no price too high to protect our Mother Earth. The message comes from Mother Earth … to stand up for the trees right now, before it’s too late.”
Even while appealing her conviction, Davidson ran federally as the Green Party candidate for the Northwest Territories, finishing fourth behind Liberal candidate Rebecca Alty.
