Manly shares the Council of Canadians statement on Burnaby Mountain yesterday.
The Council of Canadians formally expressed its solidarity with the protests against the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline on Burnaby Mountain yesterday.
The Vancouver Observer reports, “Paul Manly, representing the B.C. and Yukon division of the Council of Canadians, said his organization had issued a statement from Ottawa supporting the protests on Burnaby Mountain. ‘We’re thanking people for coming out, by standing up and being arrested’, Manly said. ‘We support civil disobedience in these kind of situations … this is the hotspot in Canada right now with major climate destroying projects promoted by the Harper government.'”
To read our full statement, please click here.
To support the people opposing Kinder Morgan on Burnaby Mountain, the Council of Canadians has also provided funds for wood, gas and other necessary supplies for the gathering place and camp there; its staff and chapters were at the courthouse during the hearings prior to the injunction; we signed an open letter in support of the Burnaby Mountain Caretakers; and we are providing other ongoing support and solidarity.
Since a court injunction was first imposed one week ago today, more than 100 people have been arrested in the conservation area opposing the pipeline. It is expected that Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) Grand Chief Stewart Phillip will be arrested on Burnaby Mountain today. He says, “As I am being arrested, I will think of our grandchildren.”
Other notable events this week include: people gathering at the courthouse to oppose Kinder Morgan seeking a widened injunction area and extended timeline to do their survey work on the mountain (today at 9:30 am PT), faculty and students walking up the mountain together (tomorrow at 10:30 am PT), mothers, grandmothers and children gathering at the mountain (Saturday at 11:30 am PT), an Indigenous and people of colour mass gathering (titled Frontlines Beat Pipelines) on the mountain (Saturday at 1 pm PT), and much more.
The Vancouver Observer article also notes, “[Manly] suggested that what was happening in Burnaby Mountain today could apply to Energy East, a controversial 4,500 kilometre pipeline proposal by TransCanada. ‘We’re going to see the same thing happening here with Energy East’, he said.”
For more on our campaign in opposition to the Energy East pipeline, please click here.
