Shuswap Environmental Action Society
PRESS RELEASE
Salmon Arm’s “Defend our Coast” action a record breaker!
Protest draws 200+ people – largest rally in the Thompson-Okanagan
Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grtsCk2pcm4
The Shuswap has what it takes when it comes to standing up for protecting the province from efforts to build more pipelines and add more tankers to the coastline. On October 24th, over 6200 people attended 76 rallies at MLA offices across the province organized by LeadNow, an independent advocacy organization that brings generations of Canadians together to achieve progress through democracy. According to the LeadNow website, which provides details about all the events, there were only four communities with larger rallies than Salmon Arm and we had more participants than the larger nearby communities of Kamloops, Vernon and Kelowna!
“The success of our rally shows how there is a strong concern for the environment in our community,” explained Jim Cooperman, Shuswap Environmental Action Society (SEAS) president, “and it indicates how effective SEAS and Salmon Arm KAIROS are in organizing events.”
The rally was held across the street from George Abbott’s office so that the large crowd, which spilled out into the street, did not block the doorways of stores and coffee shops. An open microphone provided an opportunity for participants to speak about the issues they felt were most important. Neskonlith Band member, Louie Thomas, delivered important First Nation perspectives about why the pipeline should not be built.
Other issues covered included the need for sustainable, alternative forms of energy; the threats to B.C.’s salmon streams posed by the pipelines; the dirty legacy of the many spills so far from pipelines and tankers; the massive pollution occurring in the Alberta tar sands; the foolishness of the Christy Clark government’s attempt to demand more money from Alberta for the pipeline; and the fact that the pipeline would only benefit the corporations and the “oily one percent.”
There were many creative protest signs with important messages, including: “Respect Indigenous Rights, Death by Oil Tar; Export Harper; I Don’t Trust Big Oil; Enbridge – Bad for Nature; Bad for People, BC is Not for Sale; Oil Spoils; Harper’s Laws are Incontinent; and, Wanted – Harper – For Gutting Environmental Regulations.”
Anne Morris with KAIROS, a national church-based organization, spoke about the strong opposition to the pipeline/supertankers plan by more than 130 First Nations who have declared that they will not allow the Gateway Pipelines to cross their lands, territories and watersheds. “Climate change is also a big issue”, said Ms. Morris. “The Gateway Pipeline would mean a 30 per cent increase in tar sands operations, which are already Canada’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and the reason Canada is unlikely to meet even its own very weak commitments to greenhouse gas reduction.”
“I told the crowd how the Harper government has signed a likely unconstitutional, investment and promotion treaty with China that will allow their mega-corporations to sue any level of government in Canada that restricts their access to our resources,” explained Cooperman, “and that these cases would be decided by non-Canadian, third party arbitrators. And that Canada is basically handing over its sovereignty to Communist China through this trade deal that is going ahead without any debate in parliament.”
At the end of the 45-minute rally, the group sang in unison a pipeline protest song by Sylvain Vallee, with this chorus, “Mama they’re playing with our future, trying to sell our country out through the pipeline. Harper you’re playing with our future you’re trying to sell our country out through the pipeline. Harper you’ve got a revolution for trying to sell our country out through the pipeline.”
To learn more about the October 24th Defend Our Coast province-wide events, visit www.defendourcoast.ca
