The trial for members of the Protect NL group involved in a protest outside Confederation Building last year began in provincial court this morning.
There was an immediate flood of emotion in the courtroom as a foggy video of the protest, and resulting arrests, was played for the judge.
Indigenous drumming and singing can be heard as police lay a ladder against the side of the large, colourful boat parked in the lot outside the main entrance in mid-November of last year.
The boat Protect NL brought to Confederation Building last November (VOCM News)
Protect NL had been railing against the quick pace of wind development in the province, using the boat to garner attention and support.
A security manager said it had been dropped off and left on a flatbed trailer, saying the key concern was that it was taking up several parking spaces, but also the safety and stability of it.
Police can be heard giving those on the boat a chance to disembark before boarding it, handcuffing three women, and helping them down the ladder and to waiting police cars.
Charges have been withdrawn against one of the three, but the other two — Brenda Lee Kitchen and Jennifer Whiteway — are accused of breaching government property rules. They have countered with a Charter application alleging their rights were infringed when police interrupted their peaceful Indigenous ceremony to arrest them.
Protect NL has been demanding more say in the creation of renewable energy legislation, presenting a 3,000-name petition to government two weeks before the protest.
The trial is scheduled to continue this afternoon and tomorrow before Judge Lois Skanes.
(VOCM News)
