NEWS RELEASE posted on October 11, 2010 by edoherty

Dike raising takes bite out of South Fraser Perimeter Road freeway

by Council of Canadians & GatewaySucks.org

PRESS RELEASE
 
For Immediate Release
October 11th, 2010

 
Dike raising takes bite out of South Fraser Perimeter Road freeway
[ photos attached ]
 
SURREY – On Sunday October 10th about 250 people dug up part of a freeway construction site in Surrey Sunday to fill sandbags and raise the dike protecting the low-lying community of Bridgeview from flooding. Using shovels and wheelbarrows the protesters took a significant bite out of the huge pile of ‘pre-load’ sand next to Bridgeview Elementary School and raised a section of dike by about three feet using 350 sand bags.
 
"The  dikes need to be raised in response to rising sea levels due to global warming," explained Karin Johnson from the Surrey-White Rock-Langley Chapter of the Council of Canadians while standing next to a banner reading FREEWAYS = CLIMATE CRIME. "Spending billions on freeways is a serious climate crime, and needs to be stopped now. The money needs to go to public transit and preparing communities for sea level rise.”
 
The Council of Canadians and GatewaySucks.org organized this mass direct action as part of the ‘10/10/10 Global Work Party’ to highlight climate "crimes" and climate solutions. While the organizers were prepared for arrests, the police did not intervene. The action in the Bridgeview Neighbourhood of North Surrey was one of over 7000 actions in 188 countries around the world coordinated by 350.org.
 
The Provincial Government plans to spend an estimated $1.2 to 2 billion dollars on the new highway over some of the best farmland in the area, and then spend more to upgrade it to freeway standards later. "When we should be protecting farmland in order to promote local food production, the Province is spending billions to pave over farmland and increasing our dependency on cars and tar sands oil," explains Eric Doherty of GatewaySucks.org.  "Freeway expansion is clearly a climate crime. Why not use $2 billion dollars to expand public transit and promote local food production?"
 
"We decided to take direct action and commit civil disobedience because we can no longer wait for politicians to act." says Paul Cech of the Council of Canadians Vancouver Chapter. "We demonstrated what real action on climate change looks like. And this is just the beginning; we are already planning for actions during the international climate negotiations in December.”
 
"We must stop highway expansion and shift the money to solutions like public transit and electric trains if we are serious about dealing with the climate crisis," says Doherty. “The climate crisis is here, and it is time for decisive action”

 
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Media Inquiries:
 
Karin Johnson, Council of Canadians Surrey-White Rock-Langley Chapter: 604-710-1551
 
Eric Doherty, GatewaySucks.org:  604 877 1223
 
Paul Cech, Council of Canadians Vancouver-Burnaby Chapter: 778-288-7696
 
 
More Photos Available at: http://bit.ly/bZOjch