PROTEST SHUTS DOWN TALKS,
MONTREAL The participants had taken their seats with their speeches in hand, the commissioners had entered the room and the cameras were in place to broadcast live online.
Then a protester charged the head table and what was supposed to be the first day of hearings held in Montreal into TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline degenerated into squabbles between proponents and opponents, arrests by police and stakeholders walking out on the process.
Before the hearings could get underway Monday morning, security guards watched as protesters gathered near the front of the conference room, locked arms and held a banner saying “Only communities can grant permission.” Calling the hearings illegitimate and a masquerade, they chanted that they wouldn’t leave until the National Energy Board cancelled the session.
After roughly 30 minutes, Montreal police — who were already outside keeping an eye on duelling protests between Energy East supporters and opponents — were called in to force them out.
Most left peacefully. The leader of the protest was tackled to the ground after refusing to leave.
“We’ll be back tomorrow!” he screamed as he was escorted out.
Three protesters were arrested: a 35-year-old man faces charges of assaulting a police officer while a 44-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were arrested for obstructing police work.
But in the end, the protesters got what they wanted.
“In light of this morning ’s events, we have no choice but to cancel today’s hearings,” NEB director Jean-Denis Charlebois announced roughly an hour after they were scheduled to begin. “We want to ensure that we can proceed in an efficient manner, but most importantly, in a safe manner for everyone involved.”
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, who was scheduled to present a brief Monday morning, was the first participant to leave. Coderre, a vocal opponent of the Energy East project, had called for the hearings to be postponed last week.
Anti-pipeline protesters were outnumbered by union representatives who showed support for the project by picketing outside.
The $15.7-billion proposed pipeline would carry oil from Hardisty to terminals in New Brunswick and Quebec.
Michel Trepanier, president of a large union of construction workers, said it could mean more than 3,500 jobs for the sector in the next three to five years.
Three chiefs who were supposed to participate on Monday, from the Mohawk councils of Kahnawake, Akwesasne and Kanesatake, held a joint news conference instead.
Asked if they felt like they lost their chance to express their thoughts on Energy East at the hearings, they said their goal wasn’t to address the commissioners.
“It was not necessarily about talking to the NEB,” said Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Grand Chief Joe Norton. “Because we don’t have any faith in that structure.”