Province-wide day of action to show opposition to pipelines and tankers In BC
By Contributor
Communities across BC are planning a province-wide Defend Our Coast day of action to show growing opposition to tar sands, pipelines and tankers and the risks they pose to our coast, rivers and livelihoods. Rallies will be held at MLA’s offices across the province on Wednesday, October 24th, and participants will link arms to symbolize BC’s unbroken wall of opposition.
Local volunteers are organizing the events with province-wide support and facilitation by online campaign organization Leadnow.ca. 63 communities have confirmed events. Participants will be calling on provincial politicians to make a firm commitment to ban tanker expansion on BC’s coast, a move that would stop Enbridge and Kinder Morgan’s pipeline plans.
“These events will build on the momentum from Monday’s historic demonstration in Victoria where thousands of people gathered on the legislature grounds to call on our provincial leaders to defend our coast,” said Nadia Nowak, Local Outreach Coordinator for Leadnow.ca. “Now, in an unprecedented display of unity, people in communities across BC are coming together like never before to form a wall of opposition to pipeline and tanker expansion.”
Support for the community-based events reflects recent polling data by Stratcom that shows a majority of British Columbians oppose the proposed Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipelines.
“Despite the clear opposition of British Columbians, the federal government is trying to ram pipelines through our province,” said Nowak. “These local events will make a powerful visual statement to show the unprecedented depth and breadth of this movement, and make sure our politicians know that we are organizing in the communities they represent.”
Events have been confirmed in the following communities:
- 100 Mile House
- Abbotsford
- Bella Bella
- Bowen Island
- Burnaby
- Campbell River
- Castlegar
- Chilliwack
- Coquitlam
- Courtenay
- Davis Bay
- Delta
- Fort St. James
- Hazelton
- Kamloops
- Kelowna
- Kitimat
- Ladysmith
- Langley
- Maple Ridge
- Mission
- Nanaimo
- Nelson
- New Westminster
- North Vancouver
- Osoyoos
- Parksville
- Penticton
- Port Coquitlam
- Port McNeill
- Powell River
- Prince George
- Prince Rupert
- Quesnel
- Revelstoke
- Richmond
- Salmon Arm
- Sidney
- Smithers
- Sointula
- Squamish
- Surrey
- Terrace
- Vancouver
- Vernon
- Victoria
- West Vancouver
- Whistler
- White Rock
For more information on the Defend our Coast BC-Wide Day of Action, and to find the location and time of the event in your community, please go to the website: http://defendourcoast.ca/actions/
