Judge Elizabeth Bennett: "While I am not without sympathy for the plaintiff, as acts of civil disobedience sometimes bring about positive change..."

Krawczyk's conspiracy suit tossed
But amended claim can proceed

North Shore News
May 21, 2008

AN environmental activist's $2-million lawsuit against the District of West Vancouver and its police force was dismissed in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday because of a lack of evidence.

Betty Krawczyk's claims of $2 million each against Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon and the company building the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project were also rejected.

"I am bitterly disappointed," Krawczyk told the North Shore News.

But the 80-year-old great-grandmother said that the judge's decision would not dissuade her from participating in future protests and blockades. "I'm certainly going to continue to participate in the life of the community and the life of the province. Everything that we have and are and hope to be rests on the help of our environmental life support systems."

The claims stemmed from a protest at the site of highway construction near Horseshoe Bay in May of 2006, which landed Krawczyk in jail for seven months. She was one of several activists protesting what they saw as the destruction of the Eagleridge Bluffs.