The Rising Tide tour members at the Smorgasbord Deli meeting with the Council of Canadians Kamloops chapter.
Council of Canadians energy campaigner Maryam Adrangi is taking part in the Rising Tide ‘Building Resistance’ tour to expose the impacts of fracking in British Columbia and build support for communities concerned about pipeline expansion. The tour will mostly visit communities either located along the route of the Pacific Trails fracking pipeline or near fracking operations.
Adrangi says, “This trip is about listening to and amplifying the voices of communities most likely to be affected by the push for liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a major economic sector for the province. In this moment when government and industry are saying LNG is the future, we must listen to people who will be immediately and drastically affected.”
The tour began in Kamloops on May 8 with climate justice workshops at two high schools.
Rising Tide member Teresa writes in a blog, “After the high school presentations, we headed down to the Smorgasbord Deli to meet with the Kamloops Council of Canadians and learn about the proposed Ajax mine. The Ajax copper and gold mine would be located right on the Kamloops city boundary. Residents of Kamloops, including the high school students, expressed concern about both environmental and health impacts that could result from the proposed mine. Kamloops city council is waiting for environmental assessments to be complete before they make any decisions.”
After this meeting, the group met with Scewepemc Nation grassroots organizers. Teresa notes, “Members of the Secwepemc have written a declaration to protect their sacred waters and defend their territories from destructive projects, saying that neither government nor corporations have rights to make decisions that compromise their stewardship efforts. One of those destructive projects is Imperial Metal’s proposed Ruddock Creek project. Imperial Metal’s proposed lead and zinc mine would be located at the headwaters of the Adams River, posing serious threat to the world’s largest run of sockeye salmon as well as other threatened species in the area.”
Yesterday the group was in Prince George, more on that soon.
The remainder of the tour includes:
May 10 – Moricetown – Unis’tot’en camp
May 11 – Smithers – Old Church – Community Dinner/Meeting
May 12 – Burns Lake – Afternoon
May 13 – Fort. St. John / Dawson Creek
May 14 – Fort Nelson
Rising Tide is a grassroots environmental justice group committed to fighting the root causes of climate change and the interconnected destruction of land, water, and air.
For more, please read:
Unis’tot’en Action Camp Shows Clear Opposition to Pacific Trails Pipeline
NEWS: Kamloops chapter hosts ‘Walk for Peace’ against Ajax mine, fighter jets
UPDATE: The Secwepemc issue a Sacred Water Declaration
VIDEO: Secwepemc opposition to Ruddock Creek lead-zinc mine