Council of Canadians climate justice campaigner Daniel Cayley-Daoust in Renfrew this evening. Photo by Maude Barlow.
The Council of Canadians Mississippi Mills chapter co-sponsored a public forum this evening featuring Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and climate justice campaigner Daniel Cayley-Daoust talking about the 1.1 million barrel per day Energy East tar sands pipeline.
Renfrew is located about 95 kilometres west of Ottawa. With a population of just over 8,200 people it is the third largest town in Renfrew County after Petawawa and Pembroke.
Barlow highlighted the argument she makes in her new book Boiling Point: Government Neglect, Corporate Abuse, and Canada’s Water Crisis.
She writes, The Energy East pipeline and the proposed western pipelines pose a clear and present threat to waterways and watersheds across the country. It would be irresponsible to expose thousands of lakes and rivers to spills of one of the dirtiest energy sources on earth. The Trudeau government must have the courage to say no to Energy East, which would also dramatically increase production in the tar sands, prolonging its productive life for decades and tying Canada into a fossil fuel energy future.”
Ottawa Community News reports, “More than 2,000 kilometres [of the Energy East] pipeline would run through Ontario, more than any other province. In the Ottawa area, the pipeline would run through Pembroke and Renfrew, cut south east through Stittsville, cross the Rideau River south of Kars and north of Kemptville and then follow the St. Lawrence River east. It would then cut north and cross the Ottawa River near Lachute, Que.”
The Ontario Rivers Alliance notes the pipeline would intersect 1,187 streams, lakes and rivers and 665 wetlands in Ontario. One of the waterways it would intersect is the Bonnechere River, which flows through Renfrew.
In Boiling Point, Barlow calls on the federal government to reinstate and improve the Navigable Waters Protection Act, the Fisheries Act, and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
Local groups opposing the Energy East pipeline along with the Council of Canadians Mississippi Mills chapter include the Bonnechere River Watershed Project and Pipeline Awareness Renfrew County.
For more on our campaign to stop the Energy East pipeline, please click here. For more on our Every Lake, Every River campaign, click here.
#EveryLakeEveryRiver #StopEnergyEast
