Federal Crown vying to stop private prosecution in B.C. dam collapse case
VANCOUVER — The federal government is moving to stay an advocacy group’s private prosecution against the B.C. government and a mining company over the collapse of the Mount Polley tailings dam.
Crown lawyer Alexander Clarkson says there is no prospect of conviction against either the Mount Polley Mining Corp. or the province in the legal action launched last fall by MiningWatch Canada.
Clarkson says in a statement that the private prosecution is not in the public interest because the BC Conservation Officer Service, Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are already investigating the collapse of the tailings pond.