While hundreds rallied outside the NEB hearings in Burnaby this Saturday, police arrested three people staging an impromptu sit-in protesting lack of access to the pipeline hearing.
Burnaby resident Mia Nissen was one of three women arrested, chanting “let us in” as police handcuffed them.
“What we tried to do was go into the hearing, because it is a public hearing supposedly, and one of the facilitators grabbed me saying we weren’t allowed to go in, we weren’t on the list,” Nissen told the NOW. “I just explained I was one of the people who applied to participate in the hearing and I was denied along with 400 other people.”
Nissen took issue with the fact the hearings are public yet the general public is not allowed to attend. During the sit-in, other protesters entered the building, chanting, drumming and singing in support of the three. They also ordered yam fries, which they dubbed as “freedom fries,” and attempted to deliver them to those staging the sit-in, but police kept them out.
Nissen and two others – Destiny Sharp and SFU student Amy Widmer – were eventually arrested around 4:30 p.m. All three were taken to RCMP headquarters and released a couple of hours later, and police are recommending charges of mischief.
According to Nissen, the conditions of her release dictate she must stay away from the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre, where the hearings are taking place. Police couldn’t confirm that, but Staff Sgt. Major John Buis said anyone who breaks conditions of release could face re-arrest and end up in court before a judge.
When asked if she plans to stay away from the hotel, Nissen said people will “act as their conscience dictates.”
“People are getting creative and finding creative ways to say no,” she added,” “because there’s a lot at stake, and it’s all worth it.”
During the sit-in and rally, dozens of chairs inside the hearings remained empty as intervenors presented their final oral summary arguments to the three-person NEB panel that will recommend whether Kinder Morgan’s $6.8 billion expansion should proceed. The hearings take place in Burnaby until Jan. 29 and resume in Calgary Feb. 1 to 5.
Last fall, Nissen was one of the five named in Kinder Morgan’s multimillion-dollar civil suit filed against protesters opposing the company’s survey work on Burnaby Mountain. More than 100 were arrested during those rallies, but all charges were dropped.
