We Defended Our Greenbelt. We Got Sued. Come Join the Fight!

We are building a legal defense fund at TreeSpeech to protect not just QNPS, but all defenders of our ecosystems in British Columbia.

As many know, Richard Todsen, Linda Todsen and Todsen Design & Construction Ltd. sued QNPS for remarks we made while defending against their 6.4 acre development proposal in the Estate Residential properties, a 200 acre forest containing an extremely rare and at-risk old-growth Coastal Douglas fir ecosystem. We have just filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to the new Protection of Public Participation Act that reads:

"This claim was brought in bad faith and was brought with the improper purpose of intimidating the applicant and others and to discourage their public participation and limit free expression during a municipal election and during a public rezoning process"

We believe that this case has the potential to establish precedent for environmental and community advocates across British Columbia that will reverberate for decades to come. In other words, Qualicum Beach is now ground zero in the fight for both environmentalism and free-speech. We—the people of British Columbia—cannot afford to lose the David vs Goliath battle and allow our rights to become as endangered as our ecosystems.

We are so grateful for the outpouring of support that we have received up until now. We have found that when you speak for truth and environmental justice, you are never alone.

If you believe in protecting public participation and free speech, as a means to defend our most sensitive and beautiful natural spaces, please share and donate to our fund. Thank you!