BURNABY (NEWS1130) – Four days after a large anti-pipeline protest in Victoria, the topic has once again attracted a crowd, this time in Burnaby.

People came away from the talk hosted by the Council of Canadians determined to take some personal action against the two major projects being considered in BC.

The audience of over 300 people gave standing ovations for the speakers, which included the council’s Maude Barlow and Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation.

“We need to organize like we’ve never organized before,” Barlow told the crowd. “We have to stand up and say ‘You shall not pass.’”

Barlow says people should be worried not only about the environmental risks and the climate change that the pipeline projects represent, but about who owns our oil and how foreign energy companies are influencing domestic energy policy.

“More than two-thirds of tar sands production is owned by foreign corporations. So we now we have a government in Ottawa that is gutting environmental regulations as fast as they can, leaving us without tools to fight this. At the same time,  Harper is handing over new rights to corporations in new trade agreements to serve the interests of foreign energy corporations,” she explains.

Many who came to the talk say they are prepared to be proactive.

“I’ve done other things before, but never civil disobedience. But this is something I would draw the line on, especially for my kids, because it is so critical and because we need to turn this around,” says one man from Kitsilano.

Another man came in from Chilliwack to hear the presentation and says he wouldn’t fear confrontation. “How can you possibly hurt me? I am 66 years old. I don’t give a damn anymore. I’m going to put on a tie on and get arrested.”

The talk moves on to Prince George and Smithers, communities near the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. Burnaby is the location of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline terminal. The company wants a second pipeline to run to the same terminal.