Tag: oil

Kinder Morgan, Site C, Canadian Mining another week of resistance

There is a connection between the many battles that so many people who live in this land we call British Columbia.  Our home on stolen land, First Nations Land. In the Vancouver Area it is the home of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Watuth Nations.

Throughout the territory recognized widely as British Columbia where resource extraction has been the mainstay of this region’s wealth,  countless numbers of Indigenous communities have been resisting extraction without consent or return for centuries.

Today more than ever, people who identify as settlers, many of whom have benefitted from being part of settler communities are standing up and acknowledging what was so long-ignored.  Now, more and more so, the resistance is spreading lead primarily by Indigenous communities — those who live on land begrudgingly given to them through Treaties then ruthlessly trampled for the purpose of extracting what to capitalists has been the basis of their wealth. As well leadership has come from members of Indigenous Communities who live away from their land in urban centres, often in poverty.

On Monday night, May 7 the Canadian Mining Community was celebrating the destruction they have wrought all over the world.  They were celebrating each other in self-congratulating award ceremonies.

At the same time a group of activists also gathered to celebrate.  They did so outside the glass palaces of luxury at what is known as Canada Place to celebrate those who have been resisting Canadian Mines, many head-officed right here in Vancouver. From the fight at Mount Polley, described in an article by Emma Gilchrist in the January issue of DeSmog Canada in the following terms:

“On August 4th, 2014 a four square kilometre sized tailings pond full of toxic copper and gold mining waste breached, spilling an estimated 25 billion litres of contaminated materials into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake, a source of drinking water and major spawning grounds for sockeye salmon. ”

Despite the fact that Mount Polley is according to a headline in the same well-researched online publication, “one of the largest environmental disasters in Canadian history — no charges have been laid against the company,” DeSmog Full story deSmogCanada

In a serious, but light hearted event, opened with words by Tsleil-Watuth watch house co-ordinator Will George who made the connections between to Kinder Morgan on burnaby Mountain and the destruction taking place in BC and around the world brought about May 9 another Kinder work day haltedby these mining companies.

The songs of welcome by Indigenous matriarchs set the tone for the gala entitled: Unearthing Mining Justice . Whether in the Phillipines, Guatemala, Mexico,  or Tibet to name a few places that were called out during this first gala of its kind in BC.more…more about mining justice

Site C every Friday at David Eby’s office

site-c-is-a-sour-deal.jpg2909 W Broadway, Vancouver

Lemonade, cookies and information about the disaster taking place in North Eastern BC.  It is amazing how little real information people living in the Lower Mainland have about the disaster that continues to unfold.  Ken and Arlene Boon are farmers from the Peace River who have fought passionately to stop this dam from going ahead.  Along with various Indigenous Communities who have been hurt by the non-stop destruction of fishing, hunting and farming land.  Currently two court cases are pending. One brought about by the Prophet River Band and the other by the Blueberry River Band.  Follow Ken and Arlene Boone at pvla@xplornet.com and Witness for the Peace.Photo 1 Peace River Valley- Photo by Robin

Wednesday, May 9 a hose down for Kinder Morgan

In Burnaby, activists — both Indigenous and Settler stopped entry to all the gates including the waters of Burrard Inlet where Liam and his kayaking pals managed to hook themselves up to the fence stopping Kinder Morgan from gaining access.  The private KM security force known as the RCMP took a few hours to get out there to detach and arrest the brave young ones who are putting their time on the line.  Meanwhile in a Kinder Morgan boardroom in Texas,  USA  two Indigenous Chiefs  Judy Wilson of the Neskonlith Indian Band, and Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust travelled to Texas to meet with shareholders at the meeting Wednesday. The Chiefs succeeded in having a resolution passed that demands that KM ensure more environmental accountability.

The week had started, of course, with the Greenpeace action to halt the transportation of the giant drill that Kinder Morgan brought to BC for the purpose of drilling through Burnaby Mountain.

Greenpeace halt monster drillThanks to the The National Observer   and DeSmogCanada

Environmental Justice As Liberation: No Consent, No Pipeline, No Kinder Morgan

The headline above is for a piece posted by Sarah Beuhler, campaigner for the Coast Protectors.  Sarah was s a guest editor to the online blog The South Lawn. (see below)  

As someone whose SFU Masters Thesis focused on the importance of creativity in resistance I find it exciting and hopeful to see the  Carnival playing out right here, in British Columbia. People’s resistance taking place in so many venues — Indigenous rights and consent, housing affordability and availability throughout the province, pipelines, fracking, massive hydro power dams, fish farms and more.  British Columbians and Canadians right across the country are speaking up and doing so with creativity.

In the Lower Mainland of British Columbia the battle to stop the Kinder Morgan Pipeline is heating up.  This piece by Sarah Beuhler gives an excellent overview of the strategy involved in mobilizing and fighting this project.

Stop KM
Burnaby Mountain, April, 2018

Against the power of governments who were falsely elected on the basis of new, community driven strategies with collusion from corporate driven mainstream media,  the Kinder Morgan pipeline battle in BC, as well as the Fight against Site C and ocean-based fish farms and fracking are  examples of  mobilizations  to protect land and water and the beings who depend on them. They are led by Indigenous leaders from the BC Union of Indian Chiefs to hundreds of small communities whose lives and livelihoods are historically and legally tied to the unceded territories. And settlers are following — finally.

Across Canada, in North and South America and throughout the colonized world, Indigenous Communities are fighting back with vigour and great creativity and are being joined by thousands, millions of settler communities who have learned to respect and understand that without the full and prior consent of the Indigenous in traditional territories , the land’s truth keepers —  sustainable progress will not ensue.

Sarah’s piece invites the public to understand the story of the Kinder Morgan Pipeline currently in an expansion mode that could increase the flow of Bitumen by 7 times what is currently transported via pipeline from Alberta.

It would then be loaded onto huge tankers 7 per week and carted off to who knows where.  Bitumen is described in Cambridge English dictionary as  “a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation. It is used for road surfacing and roofing.” Thin that out for easy flow with toxic chemicals and imagine what is travelling through the mountains across the lands, under the rivers and under the inlet and could increase to the point of danger.

Sarah’s Coast Protector story is the full story of the project and the strategies that have been developed, used, set aside and re-considered.

I hope you find it as instructive as I did.  As for the Carnival, think of the massive strategically organized resistance against the Dakota Pipeline, of the thousands of actions organized by Indigenous people against Canadian and other mining companies in their territories and the demands to stop massive dams, stop polluting rivers, stop exploiting for profit without thought of human survival. Think of all the tiny houses being built along the Trans Mountain Pipeline route, think of the years and years of protests ongoing against the Site C Dam. The songs, performances, cyber actions,  public arrests, the displays of respectful resistance are all marks of the carnival.

In my brief look at carnival I examined resistance against a backdrop of social and political movements whose histories were linked to the carnival through their disdain for power from above and their creative means of subverting that power.

At Kinder Morgan, Site C and throughout the world of resistance, let the carnival continue with thanks.

 

THE SOUTH LAWN (click here to read Sarah’s piece) 

The article was reposted on Portside.  Both Portside and South Lawn  are progressive and labour supportive blogs from the US. 

Watchouse
The Watch House

 

Continue reading “Environmental Justice As Liberation: No Consent, No Pipeline, No Kinder Morgan” →

Another extraordinary day: Indigenous blessings, singing, creative brilliance and connecting with the meaning of time

April 18, 2018 — As we arrived for our court date in the ongoing battle of the people vs Kinder Morgan, Justin Trudeau and the rest we were greeted by the cadence-like movement of of Will George’s characteristic feathered head dress. He was accompanied by a circle of  drummers and participants in dancing the words and prayers of his ancestors.

Today, it was in honour of those of us attending court.  Their voices and rhythm filled the concrete tunnel linking Vancouver’s  Smithe Street Law Courts entrance despite the sound and fumes of the passing cars. The vibration even through the concrete was powerful.

What a difference then walking through the door and confronting the black and white costumed legal bees buzzing throughout the first floor of the Supreme Courthouse and all the way up to Courtroom 55 where the drawn-out proceedings of the Canadian Legal system were shown to be as confusing as ever.

During the approximate three hours in the courtroom the court was silenced twice, at separate intervals, by two Indigenous people who took space in the court to berate the Canadian legal system for its unfairness in daring to seek punishments and to criminalize people who are fighting to save the land and the water and who are acknowledging the principle and the law of  free, prior and informed consent required in the use of Indigenous held lands. There were no media reports either of the morning greeting nor the episodes of drama in the courtroom.

Those two courtroom episodes, (I apologize for not being able to credit them personally) stopped the court in its tracks.  There was silence as each of those people spoke of long term injustice and growing strength in the face of it.  One spoke in her Heiltsuk language. The other speaker presented with the power that comes from centuries of resistance.

And they gave rise to searing applause and shouts of support from the hundreds in the room who are in the process of submitting to the harsh reality of a legal system that does not accept dissent in any meaningful way! The judge listened without cautioning or commenting.

But none of the above was deemed to be news by mainstream BC or Canadian media.

But what was the news media highlight of the day?.  CBC and other news outlets shouted from the roof tops that Angus Reid that “trustworthy” pollster owned by “no” corporate interests, they say, has stated that based on their most recent on-line poll it’s clear that British Columbians want the pipeline to go ahead.  That was the a.m. news and nothing changed about the top story all day. While callers to the noon-hour BC Almanac mostly berated the polling results and questioned the notion that so much credence is given to polls, the methodology and outcomes and issues reported from the poll were credited as fair by host Angela Sterritt.

 

But in, fact no other activities, no counter polls, hardly a mention of the complex sovereign ownership of the land and sea complete with wildlife and resources that are threatened were counted or reviewed by Angus Reid.  No discussion of free, prior and informed consent related to Indigenous People’s rights.

So today a group of primarily settler resistors, in the courtroom,  backed by some powerful Indigenous voices both inside and outside were, once again, ignored by Canadian mainstream media.

For resisting settlers,  it is not so much a brand new experience as a reminder of how long Indigenous Communities in this country some of us call Canada have been resisting.  It is a lesson in time.

Time flies, they say, when you are having fun.  The time, for Indigenous sovereignty, respect and learning exactly what those will mean for all who live in this territory, has come! It is not fun to be in a constant battle over truth and only truth can lead to healing in this territory.

Its up to every one of us, settlers in particular,  to both change and ignore those polls and join the resistance in forceful but peaceful resistance.

 

 

 

 

One 0f 200 arrested for taking a stand against tar-filled pipelines coming to the coast

Lmleclair_KinderMorgan_22March2018_001
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On March 22, I became the 140th person to be arrested standing at the gate to the Kinder Morgan disaster that is happening on Burnaby Mountain.  Although i’ve been involved in many and various activities during my more than 50 years as a feminist, labour and cultural activist, I’ve never been arrested before.

Tomorrow about 170 of us have been summoned to court to find out how the system will deal with our refusal to accept Justin Trudeau’s order to let the Texas-based Kinder Morgan proceed with completing a pipeline to transport dirty,  heavy and chemical-laden bitumen through forests and neighbourhoods to the Fraser River and beyond.

I’m proud to have taken a stand.  I will continue to do so.  I’m grateful for the leadership of the Indigenous Coast Protectors (@coastprotectors), for all the Indigenous Matriarchs and for the thousands who have stood up for First Nations rights and the rights of all people to live and breathe without being poisoned.

Thanks to Arthur Manuel for encouraging so many in the settler communities on this journey.

Lmleclair_KinderMorgan_22March2018_007

Many thanks to Ta’ah Amy George, Tsleil=Waututh Matriarch, UBCIC Grand Chief , Stuart Phillips with Naomi Klein  (@NaomiKlein) and Chief Bob Chamberln (@ChiefBobbyc). This is national and international leadership!