Anti-pipeline protesters arrested on Burnaby Mountain

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Anti-pipeline protesters have taken to Burnaby once again, this time blocking the gates of one of Kinder Morgan’s facilities.

Protesters sat at the entrance despite a court order requiring they stay back at least five metres from any of the company’s sites. Police say 28 people were arrested as a result.

“We have reached a critical point in the fight against Kinder Morgan and their destructive pipeline expansion project,” says Will George, a member of the Tsleil Waututh Nation. “Bold action is needed now – this is the moment to either stand with Indigenous Nations in the fight for a safe climate and clean water, or else watch as Kinder Morgan continues business as usual and destroys any chance for a safe and livable planet.”

Activists are hoping to stop Kinder Morgan from clearing trees on the Burnaby site before March 26th. That’s when nesting migratory birds return to the area and close the company’s construction window.

If the company misses that deadline, Kinder Morgan will have to wait until August to finish their logging work, costing them time and money.

Clayton Thomas-Muller is one of the many taking part today. He says they are ready to take bold action, and that includes the possibility of being arrested.

“People are here to put their bodies on the line in a good way, to stand up and use their democratic right to protest, and of course indigenous peoples are acting within their sovereign right,” he tells NEWS 1130. “Citizens and first nations have their right to express themselves through all sorts of tactics, today we’re taking collective action together.”

He says this is an important moment. “Today marks the beginning of an escalation, where citizens and first nations alike are working together to put a stop to this threat to the Burrard inlet, and our shared climate.”

Mike Hudema with Greenpeace Canada says that group will be among the protesters.

“Peaceful resistance has been a cornerstone for change across the world for decades, and it will continue to be so,” he says in a release. “Greenpeace will be on hand standing with Coast Salish leaders and hundreds of others during the coming days to help train people who want to take bold action to protect the water, protect the land and exercise their right to peaceful protest.”

A woman, who is said to have chained herself to a work truck at a Kinder Morgan site, was arrested on Friday.

Last week, thousands gathered in Burnaby to protest the pipeline, despite a temporary injunction that required they stay at least 50 metres away from any Trans Mountain site. A BC Supreme Court judge tweaked the injunction this past Thursday down to five metres, arguing the 50 metre distance was too broad and would have affected public roads, a trail and private residences.

Meanwhile, another–smaller–group also held a rally in downtown Vancouver in favor of seeing the pipeline built.

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