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Opinion

Nearly four years after the Comox Valley Regional District filed its lawsuit seeking an injunction against ship-breaking at Union Bay, there is still no publicly known trial date. This lack of progress stands in stark contrast to Reynolds v. Deep Water Recovery, a private citizen’s case filed around the same time, which moved through substantive motions, produced written court decisions, resulted in significant cost awards, and ultimately concluded.

The comparison is troubling. While an individual litigant advanced a complex case through the courts, the CVRD — with public resources, legal counsel, and a clear regulatory mandate — has yet to obtain even a date for a trial on whether illegal activity should be stopped. In the meantime, ship-breaking operations continue unabated, with potential ongoing pollution and environmental impacts on Baynes Sound.

Reports indicate the CVRD began the case in Vancouver, completed Examinations for Discovery, and then sought a change of venue — a decision which allowed multiple opportunities for objections and delay. The result: years of continued operations with no judicial determination and growing concern for the local environment.

Residents deserve answers. Why has this file stalled so long? Have the CVRD’s procedural decisions undermined its enforcement mandate? If a private citizen can achieve results in court, why has a public agency failed to do the same?

At some point, delay ceases to look like prudence and begins to resemble mismanagement — while Baynes Sound bears the consequences.

Ian Munro, President, Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound