Benjamin Donald Holt, 52, also hit with 60 days of house arrest
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One of the key organizers of a protest group that disrupted traffic in Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island last year received a day in jail and 60 days of house arrest for his role in the actions.
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according to a recent ruling of the BC Provincial Court of Judge Gregory Rideout, Benjamin Donald Holt, 52, was involved in four separate protests with the now-defunct group Save Old Growth (which was affiliated with Extinction Rebellion).
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The goal of both organizations was to use traffic blocking tactics to draw attention to “their perceived urgency regarding climate change and the government’s inaction to rectify it,” Rideout wrote.
Holt pleaded guilty to committing mischief on April 14, June 14 and October 20 of last year by blocking traffic on Grandview Highway at Boundary Road in Burnaby, on Highway One between Westport Road and Caulfeild Drive in West Vancouver. , and painting “Save Old Growth” in the center lane of the Lions Gate Bridge. He also pleaded guilty to violating a court order by protesting at the south end of the Lions Gate Bridge on August 2, 2022.
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The court heard that Holt, 52, had no criminal record and was a married father of two teenage children. He is a self-employed IT specialist.
Crown asked that he be jailed for 35 days given that he was a paid member of the group, the level of civic disruption caused by the protests, and that Holt continued to participate in the protests even after his first court appearance on May 25. , 2022 and breached release orders.
The Crown also stated “That the defendant’s use of the ladder and the sticking of his hands to the road surface show that his intentions were to prolong the roadblocks.”
Holt asked for a conditional discharge and 12 months of probation, arguing that his criminal record could prevent him from traveling internationally for work.
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Rideout opted to give Holt a one-day remand sentence, served by spending a day in court during his sentence and acknowledging that he spent three days in pre-sentencing custody after his arrests. Holt was also ordered to serve 60 days of house arrest, with the first 30 days carrying more stringent conditions.
“The defendant is a climate change activist. At the material time that he was involved in the four protests, he was an organizer and coordinator of the Save Old Growth movement. For a period of time he received a fee of $2,000 per month from the movement. He was not simply a rank and file member drawn to the movement. He was at the forefront of the protests for which he will now be sentenced. I find that his role within the movement greatly increases his moral culpability,” Rideout wrote.
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Rideout also found Holt’s apology letter unconvincing.
“Your letter is more of an explanation of your conduct than a sincere and genuine apology to the affected public for your involvement in the four protests. His apology does not go beyond expressing regret for the “inconvenience” caused by his protests,” Rideout wrote.
“I believe that his actions did not create a mere inconvenience for the public. Rather, their actions created a serious and significant impediment in the public’s ability to conduct business on the highways of the Vancouver region without disturbance. I find it worrying that in his apology letter he infers that the Crown characterizes his protests as actions that undermine the rule of law. He suggests that their actions are actually quite the opposite: “Protests like mine, which aim to re-engage the government in the social contract and the protection of citizens, are in fact strengthening the rule of law.”
“His belief that his actions in committing illegal protests in fact strengthen the rule of law clearly demonstrates a lack of genuine acceptance that his behavior has no legal justification.”