The latest news regarding the oil spill charges faced by Husky Energy is that the case is now moving to North Battleford Provincial Court.
The Husky charges have been scheduled for North Battleford Provincial Court on Dec. 18, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 2 for a case management conference. Judge Lorna Dyck will be presiding.
The date and location were both set during the latest Husky court appearance in Lloydminster provincial court. While Judge Kim Young was there in person, the other players in the case appeared by telephone conference call.
Judge Lorna Dyck of North Battleford provincial court was on the call, as was Husky’s defence lawyer Brad Gilmour as well as Matthew Miazga of the provincial Crown; Miazga also appeared as agent on behalf of federal Crown Prosecutor Carol Carlson.
Both Husky Energy Inc. and Husky Oil Operations Ltd. face eight counts each under the federal Fisheries Act, and one count each under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act. Husky Oil Operations Ltd. also faces one count under the provincial Environmental Management and Protection Act.
The provincial count is summary by law; there are still Crown elections to be made on the federal counts. Miazga indicated in court Thursday that the Crown would be continuing to reserve election.
The charges all stem from the oil spill from a pipeline located near Maidstone into the North Saskatchewan River in July, 2016.
This was the fourth court appearance for Husky in this case, the first one being March 29. While it was a brief conference call Thursday morning in Lloydminster court, it was also a thorough one as the lawyers updated Judge Dyck on the status of the case.
Gilmour was asked by Judge Dyck if he was close to entering pleas in the case. Gilmour responded there had been an extensive amount of disclosure to this point, and that there had been “productive discussions back and forth.”
“I believe we’re still at that stage,” said Gilmour, who suggested reserving entering pleas until meeting with the judge at the next court date.
Lawyers for both sides were fine with scheduling the next court date for North Battleford, which appears to have been selected because of the greater physical space at that venue for a potential trial.
Prior to the case management meeting, Judge Dyck has also requested a witness list and an exhibit list from the Crown, and any documents or reports that might be useful, by Dec. 13.
Judge Dyck also indicated she would not be the trial judge should the case go to a full trial.
