Home Human Interest Human interest Pipeline protest in the park

PostHeaderIcon Pipeline protest in the park

Human interest

071912_enbridge_crowdBy LeRae Haynes

Council of Canadians hosted a gathering in Herb Gardner Park today for a ‘Kootenay to Kitimat Caravan’ protest against the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline that would carry crude from the Alberta tar sands to the port of Kitimat.

Four men from the Nelson area formed the group that addressed the crowd today, calling themselves the ‘Grey Geezer Gang.’ They were in Kamloops yesterday and arrived in Williams Lake to continue their protest.

A couple of special guests joined the group in the park today—Kim Slater, who is running the route of the proposed pipeline, stopping in communities to raise awareness and to protest the project, and BC NDP leader Adrian Dix.

071912_enbridge_kimKim said that she will be at the Central Cariboo Arts Society building on Monday July 23rd to address the community, saying that she wants to have a dialogue around clean, renewable energy, and what a national energy plan might look like.

(Keith Wiley from 'Kootenay Caravan' and runner Kim Slater.)

She began her run at the BC Alberta border and ran 350km to Prince George. On July 25 she will take up the run again—from Prince George to Kitmat, running about 40km a day for four weeks.

“The run is going really well and the response has been great,” Kim said. “It was a delightful surprise to meet the ‘Geezer Gang’ here today—so fortuitous that we crossed paths.”

She said she ran her first marathon in June. “The immensity of the pipeline issue warranted a big gesture, and doing this run is the one I wanted to make,” she said.  

One of the Grey Geezers played ‘Study War no More’ on a saxophone to signal the beginning of the speeches today.

Keith Wiley from Nelson addressed the crowd. “What we are doing is carrying a message,” he said. “We started with a number of informational events in the Kootenays, and people said we should visit the communities along the path of the pipeline.”

He said that they created a proclamation which says, ‘We support you and your right to refuse the pipeline access to your lands, communities and waters.’

A three-member panel began public hearings to discuss the environmental impact of the proposed pipeline in January. Over 60 First Nations groups in BC have signed a declaration in opposition to the project and the Union of BC Municipalities has also passed a motion against it

071912_enbridge_adrian“Working together we are going to stop the pipeline,” he said, adding that the tar sands oil contains is a highly corrosive substance that has already caused problems in pipelines. “It will cross about 200 waterways in BC, many of which are tributaries to the giant Fraser and Skeena systems, and many of which are salmon habitats.”

(Adrian Dix)

Provincial NDP leader Adrian Dix was invited to the microphone to address the crowd. “I feel embarrassed that I flew up here today and Kim had to run,” he quipped.

“There is debate right now about whether people care what’s going on around them and I think this issue shows that the absolutely do.

“BC takes all the risks for this pipeline, which are considerable. Everyone agrees with this, even the Premier,” he said. “We take all the risks and reap none of the benefits.

“This action in communities is a ‘no’ to the Northern Gateway Pipeline and a ‘yes’ to communities that can be sustained in better ways.”

In his final remarks, Keith Wiley said that they are on their way to Prince George. “I think you are participating in a turning point in Canada where Canadians say, ‘we don’t want industrialization and energy at any environmental cost.

071912_enbridge"That isn’t acceptable anymore. We want new ways that sustain our planet and bring life for our children and grandchildren in the future.”

(John Dressler)

John Dressler from the Williams Lake chapter of Council of Canadians said that the pipeline is one of the most ill-conceived projects that we have seen in Canada, ever. “There is no upside for British Columbia in this at all. There may be some workers who’ll work on the pipeline, but they will almost certainly be technical workers who will like be brought in from Alberta,” he said.

“It is important to think about this, let your voice be heard. This does not have to happen. If we say we have alternatives, then we can stop the Enbridge pipeline.”

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