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Community invited to Indigenous watch house this weekend

If you’re curious about the watch house recently built by members of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation outside Trans Mountain, Burnaby Residents Opposed to Kinder Morgan Expansion (BROKE) are inviting you to come check it out.
KM watch house
Elders of the Tsleil-Waututh commissioned the construction of this "watch house" in March outside the Trans Mountain terminal in Burnaby, built on the path of Kinder Morgan's pipeline expansion.

If you’re curious about the watch house recently built by members of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation outside Trans Mountain, Burnaby Residents Opposed to Kinder Morgan Expansion (BROKE) are inviting you to come check it out.  

BROKE and Protect the Inlet are hosting a community day April 15 to talk about how the pipeline may affect Burnaby neighbourhoods. There will be games for children, art activities, and snacks at the soccer field just west of Forest Grove Park.

Karl Perrin, one of the spokespersons for BROKE, said a lot of people in the Forest Grove neighbourhood use the right of way in the forest, and they don’t know that they’re invited to visit the watch house and see what’s happening.

“They know that there are people coming there to get arrested and to support the people that are getting arrested,” he told the NOW. “People are curious why would people come all the way to our neighbourhood, and so we’re just going to help connect them to people to give them the answers.”

Will George, who was asked by elders of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation to oversee construction of the watch house, and who has been staying there since March 10, said the community has generally been supportive of the ongoing protest and their occupation of the building.

"It's really positive response," he said. "The community brings food, pillowcases, items, they always ask what we need. We've invited them to our sacred fires, to sit down with us. There's a lot of dogs in that area people walk, frequently in that area. It's always been positive."

Jana and Gustaf Creutz, and their young children are some of the people who live in the neighbourhood. Both said they support the ongoing protests, and have been to the watch house and spoken to the people who are there.

"They're warm and receptive and appreciate the dogs coming up and visiting, and the babies coming up and visiting, and getting to know the community,” Gustaf said. “They are trying to be part of what's going on the community, not just with the Kinder Morgan pipeline."

The Creutz stopped for a while to see the action at the protest when Elizabeth May and Kennedy Stewart were arrested for protesting at the terminal gates last month. They’ve also previously brought supplies, pop-up tents, tarps and hot warmers to the people at Camp Cloud.

"I mean, anything that gets this stopped, I'm all for,” Jana said. “It's a temporary thing. I know there's a lot of people who're upset about the way that it looks in the community, but for me, it's not about how it looks, it’s about what it's standing for and what it's doing.”

The community day will take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the soccer fields in Forest Grove Park, at 8505 Forest Grove Dr. For more information and to RSVP, find the BROKE event on Facebook.