KM: Pancakes, not Pipelines #stopKM Terminal construction

[Oscar]

Pancakes not Pipelines #stopKM Terminal Construction for a Day

[ https://canadians.org/blog/pancakes-not ... uction-day ]

January 30, 2018 - 9:52 am

(PHOTO: Picture of early morning pancakes not pipelines blocking of Westridge Marine Terminal Photo Credit: Facebook Justin Trudeau Brigade)

Early in the morning January 29 close to 100 people joined an action serving blueberry pancakes outside the Westridge Marine Terminal undergoing construction to accommodate the hotly contested 890,000 barrel per day Kinder Morgan pipeline.

Yesterday's actions are part of a series of acts on the part of (primarily) local residents under the banner 'Justin Trudeau Brigade' who are using their bodies and banners to slow and stop construction equipment from entering the terminal. Usually in teams of 2 to 8 people, yesterday's presence that persisted despite heavy, cold rain, was much larger thanks to a bus full of close to 60 people joining from Victoria.

Megan Dewar, one of the Victoria based activists who helped organize the action, said "we are trying to build unity and support the indigenous nations opposed to this project...We came together as a group during the walk for the Salish Seas that was raising funds for indigenous legal challenges against the pipeline expansion. The cases are still pending but Kinder Morgan has moved forward with construction. We came here to stop them." Members of the Council of Canadians Victoria chapter joined the bus.

The action successfully stopped all construction at the terminal for the day.

As shared on a related facebook group, "Governments grant permits; ultimately, only communities grant permission" -- PM Justin Trudeau. We are denying permission to #KinderMorgan to proceed with this pipeline. We are blocking vehicular access for as long as we can, over and over again, to the site where KM has already begun construction. We have done this thirteen times since November 30 and will continue as long as we have to. KM Canada CEO Ian Anderson said that delays cost investors $90 million per month in lost revenues as well as millions more in direct costs such as salaries, eqpt rentals, etc, and can make the entire project "unviable....Along with First Nations, municipalities, the BC government and other activists, we deny permission to this greedy multinational invader."

The Justin Trudeau Brigade actions are part of a unfolding web of resistance to the project that would violate Indigenous rights, is incompatible with Trudeau's commitment to the Paris climate agreement and threaten the Salish Sea, coastal and inland communities with a massive tar sands pipeline spill. [ https://canadians.org/blog/stopkm-state-resistance ]

Andrea Harden-Donahue's blog
Energy & climate justice campaigner
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/andrea-harden-donahue ]