Environment reporter Martin Mittelstaedt writes on page A3 of today’s Globe and Mail that, “For much of the past week, dozens of protesters have blocked construction workers from entering the site of a partly completed landfill (lying atop an aquifer said to hold some of the world’s purest water), which the County of Simcoe is planning to open this fall.”
“The decision to stop workers from entering the site follows two months of peaceful rallies, marches and encampments at the site of the proposed landfill. These activities have involved hundreds of people in the largest ongoing protest in Canada in recent years over an environmental issue.”
“‘We don’t feel that our water should be contaminated. There is no reason for a dump here,’ says Vicki Monague, one of the protesters. ‘We’re not leaving. … There are people here who are ready to be arrested.'”
“Maude Barlow, head of the Council of Canadians, an advocacy group, has spoken out against the selection of the site. If police move in to arrest those blocking the proposed dump, she predicted it will only encourage more protest. ‘You’ll see people coming from across the province and across the country to support them,’ she said.”
The article highlights that, “Protest tactics were once common in environmental disputes (though rare in recent years). …But civil disobedience and threats of arrest over environmental conflicts may become a more mainstream part of the conservation movement once more.”
The full article is at http://theglobeandmail.com/news/national/green-crusaders-recycle-protest-tactics-of-old/article1215970/.
