NEWS RELEASE about Environment posted on January 27, 2014 by athornintheirside

Pancakes Not Pipelines Draws a Large Crowd

Beginning in the AM, a crowd of over 500 showed up to an event today organized by Skwomesh Action, at Chief Joe Mattias Centre in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh territories (so called West Vancouver).

The event was diverse in content and attendance. From mainstream figures like David Suzuki, to the less than status quo and extremely inspiring presence of some Mik’maq Warriors.  The warriors are on a west coast tour promoting the case of their comrades who continue to be locked up for resisting shale gas fracking in Elsipogtog (click here for information on how to support these comrades). They are also telling the story of their very successful struggle against shale gas exploration in their territories.

The phrase “warrior up” first coined by Tsleil-Watuuth elder Amy George was a very central theme to the event which was also a fundraiser for the Unis’tot’en Camp. The Unis’tot’en camp is a grassroots Wet’suwet’en blockade of the Pacific Trails and Enbridge Pipelines who with the help of indigenous and settler allies have “warriored up” in a big way and vow to stop these pipelines by all means necessary.

Overall the event was a positive sign on the one hand that the struggle against pipelines remains a popular one, even as all legalistic routes are becoming exhausted and direct actions becomes the only likely satisfaction. And on the other hand even those who have supported other major local capitalist projects such as the 2010 Olympics, appear to be genuine supporters of those resisting capitalist mega projects such as tar sands and fracked gas pipelines.