B.C. MPs take stand in climate fight
Green leader May and NDP’s Stewart arrested after joining Burnaby protest
It’s no surprise B.C. MPs Elizabeth May and Kennedy Stewart got themselves arrested Friday at the gate of the Kinder Morgan tank farm in Burnaby.
It was almost inevitable, said Max Cameron, a UBC political scientist.
There was “almost an expectation” that the pair of pipeline opponents had to take decisive action. “The province has provided a kind of political cover for this with its opposition.”
May, the national Green party leader, and Stewart, the NDP MP for Burnaby South, were accused of violating the court-ordered no-go zone around the Burnaby facility and were led away peacefully by Mounties Friday.
RCMP officers first read the injunction to protesters, including the two MPs, who were blocking the gate, and gave them 10 minutes to comply. May, then Stewart, was arrested a half-hour later, at about 12:15 p.m., after they refused to leave. Stewart, whose constituency encompasses the Burnaby Mountain protest site, said he has no choice but to stand with the demonstrators.
“I am in solidarity with my constituents who are deeply, deeply opposed to this pipeline and feel betrayed by the government for how they threatened to force this through our community,” he said. “It’s a combination of the disastrous potential of this project, but also betrayal around how it was approved that is moving many of my constituents to take the actions that they are.”
May said she chose not to tie herself to the gate with plastic ties, as many protesters have during this week’s daily protests.
“Standing here is a violation of the injunction. They don’t have different levels for people who are attached and people who are not,” May said.
As she was led away by police, May said the permits issued for the project to proceed did not respect the rights of Indigenous people on their territory.
“The commitment to build a pipeline in 2018, when we are in a climate crisis, is a crime against future generations and I will not be part of it,” she said.
After she was released by police, May said she has been charged with civil contempt for blocking a road, which is not a criminal charge. She said she must appear in court June 14.
“I’m a lawyer, I have deep respect for our courts, I have deep respect for the rule of the law,” May said.
Referring to a pending decision from the Federal Court on the adequacy of consultation of Indigenous groups, May added: “Frankly, the fact (is) that the federal government and Kinder Morgan are not waiting to see if their permits are legal before cutting down trees within parks in Burnaby … ignoring the wishes of mayor and council in Burnaby and trampling on the rights of First Nations.”
She said non-violent civil disobedience is the moral obligation of a responsible citizen on the issue of climate change.
“I think embedded in my actions today is deep respect for the law. And I’m prepared to face the consequences for my actions.”
Close to 100 people have been arrested in the past week.
It’s not the first time B.C. MPs have been arrested at an environmental protest.
Burnaby MP Svend Robinson was one of about 800 arrested for obstructing logging at Clayoquot Sound in 1993.
He was sentenced to 14 days in jail after being found in contempt of court.
Believing taxpayers should not have to pay for his jail time, Robinson asked the House of Commons to deduct two weeks from his pay.
He served his sentence at Ford Mountain Correctional Centre in Chilliwack.
The commitment to build a pipeline in 2018, when we are in a climate crisis, is a crime against future generations.