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Fredericton chapter & allies march against the Energy East pipeline

The Council of Canadians Fredericton chapter marched against the proposed Energy East pipeline yesterday afternoon.


Global News reports, “Opposition to the proposed Energy East Pipeline has taken to the streets once again in New Brunswick. A ‘Hands Across the Water’ event was held Saturday in Fredericton. Organized by the Fredericton chapter of the Council of Canadians, about 100 people marched to the Nashwaak River on the city’s north side.”


That news article quotes two chapter activists: Lynaya Astephen (who is with the Saint John chapter) says, “It goes through about 300 waterways in New Brunswick alone and about 800 or so in Quebec. A group of us from New Brunswick actually were in Quebec last week to bring awareness to the pipeline.” And Mark D’Arcy (with the Fredericton chapter) notes, “TransCanada and the governments have not been forthcoming with public meetings. Without proper maps. Without provincial environmental impact assessments.”


Global News highlights, “First Nations communities have been at the forefront of the issue in New Brunswick. Wolastoq Grand Council Grand Chief Ron Tremblay says although the National Energy Board public hearings have not been scheduled yet, he will be there as an intervenor. ‘We have strong oral traditions and oral stories about our waters and our creation story that goes along with our territory so we are going to present to the NEB board and we are going to be very firm with them and say No’.”


To watch the Global News clip, click here.


There will another protest against the Energy East pipeline next weekend: PICNICS NOT PIPELINES: March and Feast on Saturday, June 17 in Red Head (Saint John), 1:00-4:00 p.m. Starting at 1:00, the second “March to the End of the Line” will get underway at the intersection of Red Head Road and Hewitt Road. The march will take approximately 30 minutes, and will arrive at Anthony’s Cove Road for a lobster boil and hot dog picnic on the shore of the Bay of Fundy. This event is organized by Red Head Anthony’s Cove Preservation Association.


The Energy East pipeline would move 1.1 million barrels of oil per day, generate about 32 million tonnes of upstream greenhouse gas emissions a year, enable a 39 per cent increase in tar sands production from 2012 levels, cross 2,900 waterways, would threaten the drinking water of 5 million people, and is opposed by the 122 First Nations in both Canada and the U.S. that comprise the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion.


The National Energy Board hearings on the pipeline were stopped in August 2016 following the scandal of two review panel commissioners privately having met with former Quebec premier Jean Charest, a paid consultant with TransCanada. In January 2017, the NEB officially appointed three new members to a panel to review the pipeline proposal. It has not been made public when the NEB hearings – in which The Council of Canadians is registered as an intervenor – will resume. There has been speculation that the new in-service target date for the pipeline is 2022.


The Council of Canadians has been opposing the Energy East tar sands pipeline project since February 2013.