After a week of apparent setbacks to their cause, anti-pipeline protesters say they are stronger, more numerous and more determined than ever to halt the Trans Mountain expansion project.
On Tuesday, the federal government announced a plan to buy the pipeline for $4.5 billion, in a bid to ensure its expansion. Days later, B.C. Supreme Court judge Kenneth Affleck granted Kinder Morgan’s request to strengthen its injunction against protesters blockading its Burnaby facilities by eliminating a 10-minute grace period and expanding a no-go zone to other facilities.
Crown prosecutors also began seeking harsher penalties this week for those who have violated the injunction. They sought fines as high as $5,000 for protesters who blockaded the Burnaby Mountain tank farm after others had been fined $500 for doing so earlier. The Crown argued that deterrents must increase until the blockading stops.
But several dozen activists were back at Trans Mountain’s gate Saturday to show they are as determined as ever to stop the expansion.
“People showed up to show Justin Trudeau that his purchase of the of the Trans Mountain pipeline is unacceptable and that we are willing to do what it takes to stop this pipeline from ever being built — now more than ever that it is owned by the government,” said Hayley Zachs with Protect the Inlet.
Tzeprorah Berman, the deputy director of Stand.earth, said her organization has seen an increase in calls from people wanting to join the cause since the pipeline purchase was announced.
She said protesters would be trained in non-violent civil disobedience in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, the U.S. civil rights movement and the suffragette movement.
“There are moments in history when people have to stand up to fight and face unjust laws,” Berman said.
