Disaster Coastal Gaslink Protests in Canada - Well, that escalated quickly

A number of people calling themselves "in Solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs" have blockaded bridges, highways, roads, train tracks, and even the steps of the BC Legislature buildings in Canada:

Protesters opposing B.C. pipeline block rail line in Toronto | Globalnews.ca

The protesters say they're in support of Wet’suwet’en Nation, whose members oppose the building of a natural gas line in B.C.

globalnews.ca

Protesters opposing the building of a pipeline in British Columbia blocked a rail line in Toronto on Saturday, causing freight and passenger train delays.

The protesters, demonstrating near Bartlett Avenue and Dupont Street, said they were in support of Wet’suwet’en Nation, which has opposed the building of a natural gas line in B.C.

“This is a protest against anybody that would invade Indigenous lands on unceded territories,” protester Maya Menezes said.
“We’re here in solidarity with all the calls to action that the Wet’suwet’en have put out across the country for people to stand in solidarity with Indigenous self-determination.”

Tensions have been rising in B.C. between the Wet’suwet’en Nation and police since officers began to enforce an expanded injunction that was granted to Coastal GasLink by the B.C. Supreme Court.
Opponents have tried to block construction of the project while police have worked to enforce the injunction since early Thursday, leading to some arrests.

Wet’suwet’en Nation is an unceded territory not covered by treaty.

Saturday’s protest in Toronto began during the morning hours and occurred alongside another protest being held in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en near Belleville, Ont. that has caused the suspension of Via Rail service on a key southern Ontario route two days in a row.

In Toronto, a Canadian Pacific (CP) train was stalled a short distance away from protesters when they began blocking the tracks around 11:30 a.m.

In an email to Global News Saturday afternoon, a CP spokesperson said they were monitoring the situation.

Shortly before 6 p.m., Toronto police said protesters were leaving the tracks.

GO Transit also said service on their Barrie line between Union and Downsview was impacted as a result of the protest, although only temporarily.

Anti-pipeline demonstrations expected to disrupt speech from the throne - BC | Globalnews.ca

Protesters opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project shut down two key bridges in Victoria on Monday evening.

globalnews.ca

Protesters opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project shut down two key bridges in Victoria on Monday evening.

The action is one of many across B.C. and Canada Monday in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their supporters, as RCMP enforced an injunction clearing blockades on the pipeline’s route near Houston, B.C.

Victoria police said demonstrators had shut down both the Johnson Street and Bay Street bridges to vehicle traffic.

Police said they were “working to resolve this situation peacefully.”

The bridge blockades come as a group of demonstrators remain camped out on the front steps of the B.C. legislature.
That could cause problems on Tuesday, when B.C.’s NDP government is set to unveil its speech from the throne at the legislative building.

Demonstrators were observed making note of the building’s entrances and exits, though it remains unclear if they plan to try and block legislators from entering the building on Tuesday.

Sources tell Global News that security at the building is preparing to seek a court injunction removing the protest camp, however it is unlikely that would be achieved prior to the throne speech.

Now, to CHEK News' credit, who also covered these stories, they asked Victoria Police why they weren't dealing with the bridge situation. So far the Police have not commented and refused to. As of right now (around 6:43 PM) the Bay street bridge reopened as the protesters left of their own volition to join their fellows still blocking the Johnson Street Bridge. CHEK News offered to interview the bridge protesters live on TV tonight and they declined.

Some of the protesters in Vancouver were chanting "Wetsuweten stand up, RCMP stand down".
At around 6:56, the protesters left the Johnson street bridge and walked back to the Legislature.

They tried blocking the Ports and were immediately arrested. Apparently you can block bridges roads and train tracks, but NOT ports.

Metro Vancouver port blockade prompts injunction, 57 arrested Monday

The port blockades are in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en land defenders and hereditary chiefs, who are fighting to stop construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northwest B.C.

vancouversun.com

Metro Vancouver port blockade prompts injunction, 57 arrested Monday


The port blockades are in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en land defenders and hereditary chiefs, who are fighting to stop construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northwest B.C.

David Carrigg
Updated: February 10, 2020


Anti-pipeline protesters say they will be out in force in Metro Vancouver on Tuesday, despite 57 of their group getting arrested on Monday.

Natalie Knight, spokesperson for the “solidarity actions happening in Vancouver with the Wet’suwet’en Nation,” told Postmedia News she expected about 200 protesters to show up for Tuesday’s action at an “undisclosed location.”

Knight was speaking on Monday afternoon from a rail line blockade on Venables Street, just east of Glen Drive, that began at 3 p.m. and ended two hours later.

The port blockades were in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who are fighting to stop construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northwest B.C.

The arrests came earlier in the day after an injunction was issued Sunday against protesters who had been periodically blocking road access to partsbof the Metro Vancouver port since Friday. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority asked for the injunction so port operations could resume in Vancouver and Delta.

A Vancouver police spokesperson, Sgt. Aaron Roed, confirmed 43 people who defied the injunction and police orders to clear the area at Hastings and Clark streets were arrested on Monday morning.

“The injunction was granted to the Port on Sunday afternoon by a B.C. Supreme Court justice and protesters were made aware of it by the port on Sunday evening,” read a police statement issued by Roed. “A number of protesters refused to abide by the court order … Protesters received several requests from police to clear the intersection and then warnings prior to being detained.”

The VPD said all 43 people were released with conditions to abide by the injunction. Videos and photos from the scene show officers calmly moving handcuffed protesters one-by-one into police vehicles.

Delta police said 14 people were arrested on the Deltaport Way causeway. A statement from Delta police said they had been in communication with demonstrators since Saturday evening, when the blockade in Delta was first established.

“Police provided the protesters with a number of opportunities to leave without being arrested,” said Delta police spokeswoman Cris Leykauf. “Those who did not wish to be arrested were asked to stand to the side, where they could also witness the arrests if they chose to do so. Everyone involved was treated respectfully and with dignity.”

Knight said the blockade of the rail line on Monday afternoon did not breach the injunction because it states protesters must not block access to the port lands “by way of the Vancouver Fraser Port authority road access points.”

“It does not fall under the injunction,” she said.

“It’s been a long day. We wanted to gather people (following the arrests) and express our solidarity and indicate we are not going to stand down and wont be bullied or intimidated by the court,” she said. “At the same time we want to give people the chance to take a breath and gather again tomorrow at an undisclosed location.”

Knight said the protest group included members of climate and justice groups, anti-poverty groups, anti-capitalist groups, low-income housing groups and unions.

“There’s a pretty good cross section. It’s a pretty diverse crowd,” she said.

Demonstrators also gathered on the B.C. legislature steps in Victoria and blocked the Johnson Street and Bay Street bridges in the capital during the Monday evening rush hour

Coastal GasLink has said it has signed agreements with all 20 elected First Nations bands along the pipeline route from northeastern B.C. to LNG Canada’s $40-billion export facility on the coast in Kitimat — including Wet’suwet’en bands. But the hereditary chiefs it is they who have jurisdiction over the wider traditional lands, not the elected council that runs the smaller reserves.

The OG protest at the actual coastal gaslink site in Northern BC:

Wet’suwet’en vow to keep fighting after RCMP make arrests at pipeline blockade camp | Globalnews.ca

The protesters say those arrested are now on their way back to the camp to keep fighting the court order and protect their ancestral lands.

globalnews.ca

Wet’suwet’en vow to keep fighting after RCMP make arrests at pipeline blockade camp

By Sean Boynton Global News

Posted February 6, 2020 11:57 pm


Opponents of a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C. are vowing to keep blocking construction of the project after RCMP arrested six protesters near a key worksite early Thursday morning.

Police moved into the Wet’suwet’en members’ checkpoint camp at the 39-kilometre mark on the Morice Forest Service Road to enforce a court injunction approved for Coastal GasLink, which plans to resume construction in the area.

But the opponents say those arrested are now on their way back to the camp to keep fighting the court order and protect their ancestral lands.
“They’re on their way back, and it’s a testament to the fact that we’re not going anywhere,” said Molly Wickham, a spokesperson for the Gidimt’en clan that is part of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

“You can arrest us, you can try to remove us from the territory, you can remove us from the territory violently, and we will always come back.”
Wickham said none of those arrested have been charged and were released without conditions after being processed at the Houston RCMP detachment.

RCMP said Thursday they had made the arrests with “a minimal amount of force.” They confirmed an officer smashed the window of a vehicle to remove a woman who had locked herself inside, but the protester was not injured.

Police had said Wednesday that the opponents would have the choice to leave peacefully or to be arrested without handcuffs before any kind of force was used.
But Wickham says the officers who moved in, who the opponents say came with firearms and dogs, did not follow their promise.

“They didn’t give anyone the opportunity to have a peaceful arrest,” she said. “They came in, overwhelmed everybody that were inside tents, sleeping at three, four, five in the morning, and arrested everybody.”


Wet’suwet’en pipeline opponents and their supporters, who describe themselves as land defenders, said police set up a new checkpoint at the four-kilometre mark and were excluding all access, including media.

Media members were later allowed back into the camp at the 29-kilometre camp later Thursday, along with other Wet’suwet’en members.

But the exclusion zone is still being enforced, with RCMP screening anyone looking to access the area. The checkpoint is the subject of multiple legal challenges by the BC Civil Liberties Association.

Wickham says she anticipates more arrests in the coming days as construction resumes in the area, which includes the Unistot’en healing centre at the 44-kilometre mark.

But she says those remaining in the exclusion zone are ready for what comes next.

“People are not afraid of what’s coming, because they can’t get rid of us, ever,” she said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of other than going to jail.”

Coastal GasLink has confirmed work is starting to clear the service road of any obstructions, including a number of trees that opponents allegedly felled across the road to impede access to the area.

Heavy machinery was brought into the territory behind the RCMP units enforcing the injunction, which was issued by B.C. Supreme Court on Dec. 31.

Enforcement of the injunction was held to allow dialogue between the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, Coastal GasLink, RCMP and the B.C. government in hopes of dissolving the dispute.

A planned week of talks between the province and the chiefs broke off Tuesday after two days of discussions, with the Wet’suwet’en saying no deal could be reached unless the province pulled its permits for the project.

The $6.6-billion, 670-kilometre pipeline is intended to carry gas from northeastern B.C. to a massive LNG export plant being built near Kitimat, and would traverse unceded Wet’suwet’en traditional territory.
The company has signed agreements with all 20 elected Indigenous councils along the route.
But opponents argue that those councils only have authority over on-reserve matters, as artifacts of the colonial system under the Indian Act.

The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed Indigenous rights and title over unceded land, territory that Wet’suwet’en opponents say only hereditary chiefs have authority over.

On Thursday, the Office of the Wet’suwet’en Nation also announced plans to challenge the Coastal GasLink project’s environmental assessment certificate in court, arguing the company was in violation of its conditions and had failed to incorporate the findings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

—With files from Sarah MacDonald

Blockaders vs Anti-Blockaders: Guess who gets arrested:

1 arrested as residents tear down anti-pipeline blockade on Vancouver Island | Globalnews.ca

At one point, someone drove a pickup truck through plywood barriers blocking Highway 19.

globalnews.ca

Spoiler: No, really, guess.

At least one person was arrested as pipeline opponents and angry citizens met in a chaotic scene on a Vancouver Island highway, Monday.

Demonstrators opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline erected barriers at Exit 117 of Highway 19 near Courtenay in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs around 12:30 a.m.
But the group was met by another group of residents, several wearing masks, who repeatedly pulled the barricades down as police attempted to keep the groups apart.

At one point, someone drove a pickup truck through plywood barriers blocking the road.

Police eventually arrested one of the masked residents for obstruction after he attempted to pull down a barricade that anti-pipeline protesters had erected.
“He’s removing garbage!” yelled one of the man’s supporters as he tried to pull blockade materials from the highway off-ramp.

“He’s removing garbage!” yelled one of the man’s supporters as he tried to pull blockade materials from the highway off-ramp.
“My sacred items are not garbage, my sacred items are special,” one of the protesters yelled back.
Police have yet to comment on the blockade, but an officer at the scene told the group of residents RCMP couldn’t clear the protesters’ blockade without direction from their supervisors.

“We pay taxes to use these highways, that’s our right,” one woman responded to police.

“If we came out and blocked the highway you’d arrest us,” added another member of the group. “They’re going to be allowed to just start blocking everything up right across this friggin’ country?”
Deraek Menard, one of the anti-pipeline protesters, told Global News the blockade was meant to send a message of support to Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their supporters, who were facing possible arrest as the RCMP enforced a B.C. Supreme Court injunction near Houston, B.C.

“They are peaceful land defenders exerting their rights to have their sovereign territory and not be invaded by another nation,” he said.

“And when we see the RCMP using force from our nation to violate their rights like that, it’s pretty clear that people can get upset about this.”
The action appeared to have the opposite effect on at least one motorist who said he generally supported the protesters’ message.

“I can’t see how this protest is helping [fight] the pipeline, it’s inconvenienced me, I’m headed to Nanaimo, I’ve been driving 45 minutes through the backcountry trying to find the freeway,” said Ray Martin.
“They should be protesting the company or something, not inconveniencing the public.”

There are links to other stories about blockades across Canada in the stories themselves.

 

[Koby_Fish]

Exceptional protesters: "We're not prostesters, we're Water and Land Defenders"
(Potato, poh-tah-to)

Indigenous rights protesters shut down key Vancouver intersection ahead of evening commute

About 200 gathered at the intersection of Cambie Street and Broadway at about 2 p.m., blocking all traffic on the two thoroughfares.

globalnews.ca

Indigenous rights protesters shut down key Vancouver intersection ahead of evening commute

By Simon Little Global News

Posted February 11, 2020 3:38 pm

Updated February 11, 2020 5:14 pm

Protesters acting in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in their dispute over a contentious gas pipeline in northern B.C. took to the streets once again on Tuesday.

About 200 gathered at the intersection of Cambie Street and Broadway at about 2 p.m., blocking all traffic on the two thoroughfares.

Demonstrators, who reject the label “protesters” and describe themselves as land and water defenders, carried signs, banged drums and sang the women’s warrior song.

Protesters say they are acting in solidarity with members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline and what they perceive as a violation of Indigenous rights and sovereignty.
“The RCMP want them to leave, to where? They want them to go home, they are home. So it’s very confusing when people are calling them protesters when the reality is they’re only defending the land and the waters, and they have the right to do so under Canadian law and Indigenous law.”

Vancouver police say they are monitoring the scene, but have so far acted only in a peacekeeping capacity.
“The VPD prepare for and police hundreds of events, protests, and demonstrations that occur in the city every year,” said VPD Sgt. Aaron Roed in an email.

“Public safety is always our priority when it comes to preparation and police resources for these events including the safety of protesters and our officers.”
TransLink has detoured several bus routes but warns that the protest was causing delays on the 99, 15 and 17 routes of up to 70 minutes.

The protest comes as Indigenous youth and their supporters surrounded the B.C. legislature in a bid to disrupt Tuesday’s speech from the throne.

That demonstration forced the cancellation of the morning legislative session and a press conference by B.C. Premier John Horgan but failed to derail the throne speech.
Tuesday’s action is one of dozens across B.C. and the country that have sprung up since the RCMP moved into Wet’suwet’en traditional territory to enforce a B.C. Supreme Court injunction ordering a path be cleared for pipeline construction crews.

I gotta give top exceptional autist marks to the idiot who was "confused" by the RCMP telling them to "go home" and retorting "We ARE home!". Bitch, is your HOUSE RIGHT THERE? Right where you're standing? They mean your damn HOUSE/cabin/permanent dwelling, you extremely exceptional individuals.

 

[DragoonSierra]

Instead of a pipeline, we want trucks, because explosions are exciting.

pipelines leak all the time and are a terrible way to transport oil environmentally. Ship that shit by rail. Its far safer. Of course its more expensive which is why the oil companies bribe the government for pipelines. That being said lefty protests are retarded.

The ironic thing is that literally nobody in the country doesn't want these pipelines. There is no "we" that wants to keep freighting our oil. More oil means more work and more work means more money. - something that the provinces., native reserves and the federal government all need dearly. The problem is that we sold so much of our resources to the U.S. and China that the feds can't intervene in pipeline construction without our remaining industry getting assfucked by tariffs and WTO suits, like what happened when we tried increasing lumber exports in the 90's. That leaves it up to Alberta and the terminally exceptional B.C. and Quebec governments to negotiate with what amount to bottomless pits of foreign money to get anything done.

Maybe if the government hadn't signed away our uranium reserves to Iran and the plant development rights to the chugs we'd be able to build some more nuclear plants to get away from oil. I'm sure that windfarm down in the Alberta badlands will carry the weight of our energy needs though; a few million more concrete towers and we might be able to charge a phone with it one day.

The pipelines dont create more oil they just make it cheaper and faster to transport.

 

[Koby_Fish]

pipelines leak all the time and are a terrible way to transport oil environmentally. Ship that shit by rail. Its far safer. Of course its more expensive which is why the oil companies bribe the government for pipelines. That being said lefty protests are exceptional.


The pipelines dont create more oil they just make it cheaper and faster to transport.

I think the citizens of Lac-Megantic would take issue with that assessment. Train derailments are far more dangerous and common than sabotaged pipeline leaks.

Oh, apparently get enough people together and you can make the protesters fold like cheap suits:

Video emerges of truck going through Wet’suwet’en Highway 19 blockade

New video of the Wet’suwet’en Highway 19 blockade shows a dramatic enounter as protesters push plywood at a truck driving through.

www.cheknews.ca

Spoiler: GODSPEED, you exceptional 30 drunks + pickup driver

New video of the Wet’suwet’en Highway 19 blockade shows another dramatic encounter.


A distinctive pick-up truck drove through the anti-pipeline blockade on Highway 19 near Courtenay on two separate occasions Monday.


The first time the truck broke through the blockade was Monday morning.


It crossed the grass divider before driving away southbound.


No demonstrators were at the northbound exit during the incident.


About two hours later, the truck drove through the blockade again.


This time, protesters surrounded the truck and two demonstrators pushed a large piece of plywood in front of the vehicle in an attempt to block it.


Video posted to Instagram shows the tense moments inside the truck as the plywood went under the vehicle.


In the video, a Confederate flag with a pinup girl is seen on the dashboard. The flag is often regarded as a symbol of racial oppression.

They say they planned to block the highway for as long as it took for provincial and federal governments to respond to what they say is “violent oppression happening in the Wet’suwet’en nation.”


But the protest organizers — who say they’re a group of concerned residents defending their home in the K’omoks Territory — emailed CHEK News Tuesday afternoon to say they were forced to stop their blockade early.


“We, a group of concerned residents defending our home in the K’omoks Territory with the aid of some K’omoks Nation people blockaded highway 19 at exit 117 for approximately 22 hours in response to the violent oppression happening in the Wet’suwet’en nation,” the email, which came from Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo, said. The email said that the protest was not an Extinction Rebellion event but Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo was supporting the facilitation of the event.


“Due to a series of escalating security/safety concerns, we were forced to either remove ourselves from the area or suffer physical violence at the hands of radical ideologues and racists.”


They say tensions started to rise around lunchtime.


“Five individuals, possibly from The Proud Boys Neo-Nazi group, approached our blockade and dismantled it in an aggressive fashion,” the email claims.


“A pick-up truck owned by a person presumed to be working in coordination with the five other individuals smashed through a part of the barrier one of our supporters was in the process of reconstructing. From this point onward, we received a steadily escalating number of threats of physical violence on social media and several incidences of trucks swerving dangerously close to our demonstrators below the overpass in an apparent effort to intimidate.”


The demonstrators say there was another brief altercation in the evening and police were notified.


“Around the same time, we received notice that there were groups of men assembling in Cumberland wearing hoodies and getting ‘amped’ up to come ‘teach us a lesson’,” the email says, adding that approximately 30 “drunk, belligerent, and very aggressive men were gathering in the woods on either side of the highway.”

Fearing for their safety, they say they decided to close down the blockade around 9:45 p.m. and leave the area.

The blockade, in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs trying to stop Coastal Gaslink from building an LNG pipeline in Northern B.C., is part of a Canada-wide movement that is seeing trains blocked in Ontario and people prevented from entering the B.C. Legislature.

Twenty band councils along the pipeline route have signed on in support of the deal.

The demonstrators refer to themselves as land defenders fighting for First Nations’ rights.

Wet’suwet’en protesters blocked the highway in both directions for approximately 22 hours.

Gonna press a HARD X to doubt that there are Proud Boys on Vancouver Island (or that the individuals were Neo-Nazis lol because a dashboard anime pinup girl in front of a general lee flag doesn't necessarily mean "Neo Nazi")

 

[ThinkThankThunk]

pipelines leak all the time and are a terrible way to transport oil environmentally. Ship that shit by rail. Its far safer. Of course its more expensive which is why the oil companies bribe the government for pipelines. That being said lefty protests are exceptional.


The pipelines dont create more oil they just make it cheaper and faster to transport.

Faster exports make way for faster extraction, plus you need a shit load of bodies to maintain a pipe system which are jobs we're in desperate need of.

Alberta's oil comes from bitumen; it's not a liquid - it's a sand with oil compounds embedded in it. It's a bitch to freight and it's one of the most limiting factors in Canadian oil production. It must be diluted and transported in pipelines, there's simply no alternative mass transport solution. If we had pipelines stretching from the Fort Mac complexes out to Prince Rupert or wherever it'll get shipped from we could just refine the oil on site as it gets shipped out. I don't disagree that we should have a more robust rail line, but good luck getting anyone to sign off on a solid decade of blasting through the northern Rockies for few new rail lines.

 

[Glad I couldn't help]

Gonna press a HARD X to doubt that there are Proud Boys on Vancouver Island (or that the individuals were Neo-Nazis lol because a dashboard anime pinup girl in front of a general lee flag doesn't necessarily mean "Neo Nazi")

Notice the sound bite of Joe from Family Guy. Feels like a bunch of /pol/-tards, but then is there any difference between them and the Proud Boys?

 

[Goofy Logic]

pipelines leak all the time and are a terrible way to transport oil environmentally. Ship that shit by rail. Its far safer. Of course its more expensive which is why the oil companies bribe the government for pipelines. That being said lefty protests are exceptional.

I was ninja'd by koby_fish, but could you quantify why rail would be safer?

Faster exports make way for faster extraction, plus you need a shit load of bodies to maintain a pipe system which are jobs we're in desperate need of.

Alberta's oil comes from bitumen; it's not a liquid - it's a sand with oil compounds embedded in it. It's a bitch to freight and it's one of the most limiting factors in Canadian oil production. It must be diluted and transported in pipelines, there's simply no alternative mass transport solution. If we had pipelines stretching from the Fort Mac complexes out to Prince Rupert or wherever it'll get shipped from we could just refine the oil on site as it gets shipped out. I don't disagree that we should have a more robust rail line, but good luck getting anyone to sign off on a solid decade of blasting through the northern Rockies for few new rail lines.

I just want to clarify something: the Trans-Mountian pipeline is carrying DBit, and the Coastal Gaslink pipeline (the pipeline being fought over in Houston and the subject of this thread) carries natural gas.

Having worked at a NG compressor station for a summer, I consider natural gas pipelines the most unobtrusive as far as environmental impact goes. A pipeline rupture doesn't contaminate the environment like a liquid does, and is quickly repaired afterwards.

On the sources of Alberta's oil: the tar sands are located in northern Alberta, and southern Alberta produces mainly natural gas. The Southern region of Alberta was famously claimed to have "Hell for a basement" because of all the natural gas and coal deposits.

 

[ThinkThankThunk]

I just want to clarify something: the Trans-Mountian pipeline is carrying DBit, and the Coastal Gaslink pipeline (the pipeline being fought over in Houston and the subject of this thread) carries natural gas.

Having worked at a NG compressor station for a summer, I consider natural gas pipelines the most unobtrusive as far as environmental impact goes. A pipeline rupture doesn't contaminate the environment like a liquid does, and is quickly repaired afterwards.

The whole time I've been reading this thread not once did I actually bother to read the title. I just read the blurbs, saw "gas" and "protests" and figured it was an extension of the news surrounding the interprovincial line with a focus on B.C. happenings. I'm a fucking buffoon.

All of my points still apply though - pipelines tend to be far more efficient than their contemporary alternatives and they prop up the economy. No normal person protests them when the alternative is leaving your house cold in the winter. Natgas especially; there's an even smaller footprint than oil lines, which are already as efficient as they can get in this country. The fact that people eat up the corporate interest's lies about Natives not wanting heat and jobs, regardless of the province or resource being moved, bewilders me.

 

[DragoonSierra]

I was ninja'd by koby_fish, but could you quantify why rail would be safer?


I just want to clarify something: the Trans-Mountian pipeline is carrying DBit, and the Coastal Gaslink pipeline (the pipeline being fought over in Houston and the subject of this thread) carries natural gas.

Having worked at a NG compressor station for a summer, I consider natural gas pipelines the most unobtrusive as far as environmental impact goes. A pipeline rupture doesn't contaminate the environment like a liquid does, and is quickly repaired afterwards.

On the sources of Alberta's oil: the tar sands are located in northern Alberta, and southern Alberta produces mainly natural gas. The Southern region of Alberta was famously claimed to have "Hell for a basement" because of all the natural gas and coal deposits.

oh so this isnt an oil pipeline?

Caustic chemicals and everything else is transported by rail and no one makes a stink of it. I assumed if rail was unsafe and derailed all the time you would hear about it.

 

[Goofy Logic]

oh so this isnt an oil pipeline?

Caustic chemicals and everything else is transported by rail and no one makes a stink of it. I assumed if rail was unsafe and derailed all the time you would hear about it.

No, the Coastal Gaslink pipeline is a separate pipeline project running from Northern Alberta to Prince Rupert with the main purpose to start exporting natural gas by ship.

Its "technically" an oil pipeline in that it Carries hydrocarbons, but its natural gas and does not have the same environmental concerns that the BC government had with trans-mountian.

You have a valid point about hazardous chemicals on trains, but I counter that the sheer volume of the DilBit that the trains need to carry to be of economic value would make a derailment that much more of a environmental problem.

 

[DragoonSierra]

No, the Coastal Gaslink pipeline is a separate pipeline project running from Northern Alberta to Prince Rupert with the main purpose to start exporting natural gas by ship.

Its "technically" an oil pipeline in that it Carries hydrocarbons, but its natural gas and does not have the same environmental concerns that the BC government had with trans-mountian.

You have a valid point about hazardous chemicals on trains, but I counter that the sheer volume of the DilBit that the trains need to carry to be of economic value would make a derailment that much more of a environmental problem.

true but a train derailment would potentially spill less than a leak could.

 

[Koby_Fish]

oh so this isnt an oil pipeline?

Caustic chemicals and everything else is transported by rail and no one makes a stink of it. I assumed if rail was unsafe and derailed all the time you would hear about it.

there have actually been morons in the "No to Coastal Gaslink" protests that were all "What if there's an OIL spill?" It's like did you even pass Grade 5 science...
These guys are acting like Coastal Gaslink is going to be bulldozing a few longhouses and/or residences and "poisoning the land and water". As if ANY of this will make it impossible for them to hunt/fish/gather/whatever. Which, spoiler alert, it WON'T.

If you take a look at this here map, you'll see why it's COMPLETE to suggest the pipeline "go around" the "Traditional Territory":

Seriously, they want them to go "around" either side? WHERE THE MOUNTAINS ARE THICKER?! Yeah, no. Not unless the "Hereditary Chiefs" are willing to pay for them to literally drill through a few mountains to plant this pipe, as long as it ain't in their territory. What's even loonier is they're applying the Appeal to Tradition Fallacy: The Hereditary Chiefs are the Traditional government of the Wet'suwet'en, therefore it is good, democracy bad because colonialism, but then they talk about the 'will of the people'.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gasp* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA:

Protesters say they will 'walk away' from legislature

After six days of protesting at the BC Legislation, including an eventful one Tuesday ahead of the Throne Speech, protesters say they are walking away.

www.cheknews.ca

Protesters say they will ‘walk away’ from BC legislature

February 11th, 2020 updated

After six days of protesting at the BC legislature, including an eventful one Tuesday ahead of the Throne Speech, protesters say they are walking away.

The group began bringing down their encampment at the legislature Tuesday night.

Shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday, the Facebook page “Wet’suwet’en Solidarity Victoria” said, quote, “rather than be violently removed by the Vic PD they will walk away proudly and with strength tonight.”

"Today we shut down the BC Parliament.
The Indigenous youth who locked down this building for 6 days have decided that rather than be violently removed by the Vic PD they will walk away proudly and with strength tonight."

Thank you to all the brave land defenders and settler accomplices who have shown up in the past 6 days to make this action such a success. Keep posted for more actions. Solidarity!


Protesters opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C. disrupted events at the legislature Tuesday ahead of the government’s throne speech.

Victoria Police says it is investigating reports of assault and people being injured during the protests at the B.C. Legislature.
VicPD is calling for witnesses.

I think they saw the writing on the wall after some of them dun fukt up and assaulted people and realized the Saanich/Victoria police are not messing around. Not to mention, the previously mentioned 30 drunk exceptional individuals that successfully chased the blockaders off of Highway 19 up by Courtenay because there were only 3 cops and they couldn't protect the handful of protesters. And I just bet they figured out that if the Police do nothing, someone else will, which will force the Police to do something, in which case they'd better quit while they're ahead, at least there, for now.

 

[The Final Troondown]

why not just hire a couple of refrigerated trucks, perform mass arrests and stick the protestors in there for two hours then let them out to go home, if they don't they've earned another two hours 'chill out time'

 

[Koby_Fish]

why not just hire a couple of refrigerated trucks, perform mass arrests and stick the protestors in there for two hours then let them out to go home, if they don't they've earned another two hours 'chill out time'

This is the hilarious part.

MOST protesters of ANY kind, particularly of the environmental stripe (and there are many of those in the current protests because they think Natural Gas Bad even though it's clean and less of a mess than coal), are more than HAPPY to be arrested. They understand that this is what civil disobedience is all about. At least, this used to be the case. I guess this current crop of protesters can't be parted with their cellphones for 5 minutes, never mind several hours in jail's worth, and thus would prefer to take the "easy" way out and just cut and run before the Victoria police start showing up with warrants and cuffs.

But then of course, they might've also seen THIS:

CHEK poll shows 85 per cent do not support protesters at the B.C. Legislature

The CHEK Point opinion poll Tuesday reveals 85 per cent of those who took part do not support protesters at the B.C. Legislature.

www.cheknews.ca

NOTE: This poll had so many people wanting to vote, it literally CRASHED the CHEK 6 site.

CHEK poll shows 85 per cent do not support protesters at the B.C. Legislature

February 11th, 2020updated

The CHEK Point opinion poll Tuesday reveals 85 per cent of those who took part do not support protesters at the B.C. Legislature.

As of 6:30 p.m., 1,520 people had answered yes or no to whether they supported the demonstrators or not. A total of 1,287 did not while 233 did.

The poll did cause technical difficulties on the CHEK site and was closed after 6:30 p.m.

Protesters opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C. disrupted events at the legislature ahead of the government’s throne speech.

Hundreds of protesters blocked entrances to the building, chanting “Shame” as politicians tried to enter the building with help from security.

Protesters say they plan to remain there until the province agrees to pressure the RCMP and Coastal GasLink to leave Wet’suwet’en traditional territories in northern B.C.

The CHEK Point question Tuesday asked “Do you support the protesters at the BC Legislature.”

With files from The Canadian Press.

Well, there you have it, folks. As long as they thought Public Opinion was on their side, they thought they were untouchable. But now that these numbers are out (while in no fucking way is this poll scientific), it's at least a fairly good gauge of the proportion of non-support they currently have. And that's because they fucked up, and fucked up BADLY. If they had camped out on the Legislature Lawn, but NOT blockaded the entrance to the building, people would have been fine with it. If they hung a banner from the Mackenzie Overpass instead of blocking TWO major bridges between Victoria and Vic West (Bay Street Bridge and Johnson St. Bridge), nobody would have batted an eyelash. If their compatriots up Island had been ALONGSIDE the highway 19 instead of BLOCKING it, nobody would have threatened them or even really cared whether they stood there or not.

Power Play (on CTV) with Evan Solomon had Thomas Mulcair (former NDP leader federally) mentioning the blockades of Oka, Ipperwash, and a couple other places in Ontario/Quebec in the 1990s and how they were "successful" in some way by drawing attention to native grievances that he said led to the creation of the Commission on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women (and Girls). I dunno if it's quite a straight line to that or even how much part that played, but those natives in Oka and Ipperwash HAD GUNS (we're talking Mohawks with full-auto stuff here), so it was a VERY different situation.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

How much space those pipes even take that it's seen as invasion?

 

[Koby_Fish]

How much space those pipes even take that it's seen as invasion?

Typical gas transmission pipes are said to be 48 inches in diameter. However, I don't think the size of the pipe is the main issue. It's the principle. Some are doing it because they think Canada can't fight climate change and have/use natural gas at the same time. The others are just annoyed at anything the Federal Government or Provincial Government does that is even remotely resource-development related, and use the pretence of "they're INVADING our territory!" to get all up in arms about it. Probably at least half the white people "allies" in this mess have some backward romanticised notion of Natives cavorting about in Nature, free of the cares and concerns of developed society, living off the grid or whatever in 'peace and harmony' (when most of them most certainly are NOT living "off the grid").

The communist activists are trying to stir shit up again, and the "hereditary chiefs" either listened to their bullshit and agreed wholeheartedly that they're going to stick it to the Government, or these particular "hereditary chiefs" are full blown social justice IngSoc commie postmodernists themselves.

 

[Goofy Logic]

How much space those pipes even take that it's seen as invasion?

Its roughly a 300-foot wide "right of way" where you cant build on it, flow instrumentation and "Pigging" insertion sites that are maybe an acre in size, (a "Pig" is a probe that slides along the inside of the pipe to check the condition of the pipe) and the compressor stations are maybe 5-20 acre lots.

A landowner would find the compressor stations the most obtrusive. They use turbine engines to drive the compressors, and one is needed every 100km or so. They are also staffed to ensure its safe operation - only so much can be done remotely.

On private land, owners cant drive heavy machinery onto or dig on the ROW without first contacting the pipeline company, but they can cultivate it for farmland. The pipeline companies actually encourage that because it reduces the amount of ROW maintenance on their end.

 

[Jarolleon]

Spoiler: Complaining about the blockades or the Wu Flu is RACIST!!1

The "indigenous student centre" (which gets its own little house at the eastern edge of QueensU main campus) at my Alma mater outdoes themselves in the usual . Not sure if it's representative of what our intelligentsia thinks of this shit, or if they're just taking Tides money.

Spoiler: They're also white as snow

 

[Koby_Fish]

Spoiler: Complaining about the blockades or the Wu Flu is RACIST!!1

Ver archivo adjunto 1143412

The "indigenous student centre" (which gets its own little house at the eastern edge of QueensU main campus) at my Alma mater outdoes themselves in the usual . Not sure if it's representative of what our intelligentsia thinks of this shit, or if they're just taking Tides money.

Spoiler: They're also white as snow

Ver archivo adjunto 1143421

I've seen that "red paint hand mark on the face" a lot in regards to these protests lately. Someone ought to call the black ones "just as bad as blackface" because it means that a black/person of color is trying to silence them. Maybe they should try white paint to represent "whitey is silencing us!"? The red paint is even problematic too because Indians were referred to as 'the Red Man" long long ago so basically that means they're being silenced by (other?) Indians. [/channeling my inner Social Justice Warrior ironically]
Maybe some of them kids are metis or mixed af, but out of that group only one or two of them looks even close to actual indigenous. Not that this makes that much difference if they actually do carry indigenous DNA, but they're whitewashing the eff out of this then.

 

[CWCchange]

If you take a look at this here map, you'll see why it's COMPLETE to suggest the pipeline "go around" the "Traditional Territory":

Seriously, they want them to go "around" either side? WHERE THE MOUNTAINS ARE THICKER?! Yeah, no. Not unless the "Hereditary Chiefs" are willing to pay for them to literally drill through a few mountains to plant this pipe, as long as it ain't in their territory. What's even loonier is they're applying the Appeal to Tradition Fallacy: The Hereditary Chiefs are the Traditional government of the Wet'suwet'en, therefore it is good, democracy bad because colonialism, but then they talk about the 'will of the people'.

The camp is a fucking square on rugged terrain?

 

[Jarolleon]

I've seen that "red paint hand mark on the face" a lot in regards to these protests lately. Someone ought to call the black ones "just as bad as blackface" because it means that a black/person of color is trying to silence them. Maybe they should try white paint to represent "whitey is silencing us!"? The red paint is even problematic too because Indians were referred to as 'the Red Man" long long ago so basically that means they're being silenced by (other?) Indians. [/channeling my inner Social Justice Warrior ironically]
Maybe some of them kids are metis or mixed af, but out of that group only one or two of them looks even close to actual indigenous. Not that this makes that much difference if they actually do carry indigenous DNA, but they're whitewashing the eff out of this then.

They saw the White Hand of Saruman from the LOTR movies and thought it looked cool. /sneed

More seriously I guess it's a very simple way of symbolizing idpol bullshit, namely that eeeevil racists are trying to wipe out the Red Man and so we put the Red Man's mark on our face to show that we stand with him. No matter what the idpol group under discussion, anyone who isn't immediately giving into their demands is an existential threat. When questioned on this obvious hyperbolic bullshit, they can do the Motte and Bailey retreat by redefining "right to exist" as "right to be whoever I want to be" and ramble about how turning some tomboy who was "destined" to become a bulldyke or FtM into a Stepford Wife through socialization is essentially murdering their authentic self and replacing it with an automaton. So because it's all about "existence" it makes perfect sense that they'd choose the most basic "I exist" symbol for their movement, namely the mark of a painted hand.