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85-year-old arrested alongside 'youth leaders' for blockading oil tanker terminal

Access to Burnaby's Westridge marine terminal was blocked Tuesday morning

An 85-year-old was among four people arrested at a protest led by youth in Burnaby Tuesday morning.

Joanne Manley said she joined the young people blockading the entrance to the Westridge marine terminal of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, motivated by concerns about First Nations land rights, pollution and local wildlife – particularly salmon and orcas.

“My heart told me I need to come and do something about it,” she said. 

Manley, a Victoria resident, was taken into custody after the B.C. Supreme Court injunction to prevent interference with work on the pipeline was read to her in a recording played by Burnaby RCMP. She was processed by police on site and released after signing a promise to appear in court later this month.

Manley joined the more than 200 people who have been arrested for violating the injunction in recent months. Crown lawyers have been seeking increasingly harsh sentences for arrestees convicted of criminal contempt of court, including jail terms.

“It’s frightening to think I might be put in jail,” Manley said. “I will have a hard time with that, so that’s scary. On the other hand, I feel it’s my duty to take a stand.”

 

 

Organizers said the protest would led by “youth leaders” in opposition to the pipeline, but Manley said she was compelled to join the blockade in the hopes it would contribute to a better future for her granddaughter.  

Crown lawyers have previously argued in court that seniors are a segment of the population that need to be deterred from violating the injunction. 

Avery Shannon, a young activist also arrested on Tuesday, was previously arrested for violating the injunction. Shannon was taken into custody and later released from the RCMP detachment, instead of being released on site like the other protesters.

The two other arrestees were Noah Gotfrit and Tawahum Bige.