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Features
Update 2018/6/5
Pipelines
ANTIGONISH, NS: CITIZENS PROTEST AGAINST TRUDEAU DECISION TO BUY PIPELINE
This story is brought to you by
by Michelle Moore
A group of Antigonish residents met outside the local Liberal riding office on June 4 to protest the recent decision by the Trudeau government to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan for 4.5 billion dollars.
Photo: Michelle Moore
The pipeline may be far from eastern Nova Scotia, but it remains close to the hearts of these concerned citizens. Roughly 35 people stood on the sidewalk along main street in front of Liberal MP Sean Fraser's office between 12pm to 1pm to show their opposition. Protesters young and old stood together with their protest signs aimed at traffic. Many drivers smiled and honked in encouragement.
The protest was held by Fair Climate Transition (FaCT), a grassroots advocacy group for a fair and rapid shift to 100% renewables. "The sale won't be finalized for at least a month, and if there's a massive backlash from voters, Trudeau could still cancel the buyout," read the Facebook event.
The action was part of a National Day of Action to Stop the Kinder Morgan Buyout. There were over 80 similar events all over the country. Protests of different shapes and sizes took place in every province and one territory.
Antigonish resident Amy Buckland-Nicks said "I just couldn't stand by and watch this happen ... I feel like he's putting money into a sinking ship. We really should not be expanding our use of and production of the tar sands."
Buckland-Nicks expressed the risk for coastal communities in British Columbia and said the project lacked the consent of all first nations concerned.
"I think if Alberta focused more on expanding renewables and less on the tar sands then they could help people transition from oil based economy jobs to renewable energy based jobs," Buckland-Nicks said.
NDP candidate in the 2017 Nova Scotia election Moraig Macgillivray said "this decision is a betrayal for everyone who voted for this government because they believed in their commitment to climate change. It's a betrayal of everyone who voted for this government because they thought that they would be different from Stephen Harper."
Macgillivray argued that investing in fossil fuels is not the way forward and that instead, the government should be putting money into renewable energy. When asked about whether or not the project could generate jobs Macgillivray said "that's not what the studies show. Building the pipeline will create temporary jobs but there are more jobs in renewables."
She too stressed the importance of helping people to make the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and the need to create more green jobs.
Macgillivray added "we're going to be on the wrong side of history here, if you look at other countries in the world they're making the transition, we have to make the transition now, we can't wait."
m.moore@watertoday.ca
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