The Council of Canadians Peterborough-Kawarthas chapter was at a Standing Rock solidarity rally last night.
The Peterborough Examiner reports, “About 300 people at a rally against a proposed oil pipeline spilled out of Confederation Square and into the middle of the street, on Wednesday night, blocking traffic as they marched. The march was unplanned, said organizer Crystal Scrimshaw. When some people at the rally moved into the street, the whole crowd went. People blocked traffic as they marched along McDonnell St. and around the block, back to Confederation Square. Though city police arrived to block off the streets, the rally remained peaceful and safe.”
The Dakota Access Pipeline is being built by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners and Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. The pipeline could carry up to 570,000 barrels per day of fracked oil from North Dakota to Illinois. It would cross 200 waterways, including the Missouri River, which is upstream of Lake Oahe, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s main source of drinking water, and the Mississippi River.
Enbridge has a $1.5 billion share in the pipeline, while TD Securities, Scotiabank and RBC have provided project-level loans to the companies involved in it.
Mint Press reports, “About 3,000 people are assembled in the region, divided among five encampments, including three which are largely situated on reservation territory. The gathering of Native Americans representing almost 375 tribal nations and other non-Native American groups is unprecedented in modern history.”
The Council of Canadians first expressed its solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux on August 19 and since then the Regina, Chilliwack, Kent County, Montreal, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, PEI and Peterborough-Kawarthas chapters, along with staff in Vancouver and Ottawa, have participated in solidarity actions. On October 30, we sent 1000 pairs of earplugs to the water protectors at Standing Rock given they have been subjected to police use of sound cannons that cause great pain and permanent hearing loss.
#RezpectOurWater #NoDAPL #DakotaAccessPipeline
