Young, old express opposition to pipeline
A high school student from Curve Lake First Nation is sickened when she thinks of Indigenous people losing their land to accommodate a pipeline.
Katryna Jacobs was one of 30 people at Confederation Square on Wednesday protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline.
The pipeline expansion is planned to run from Alberta and through British Columbia’s interior to the west coast for export. To do so, it would have to pass through several First Nations.
Indigenous people in those communities have been fighting the move, saying they haven’t given consent to the federal government.
“It’s not something that can be happening in 2019,” said Jacobs, 15.
The Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School student and her friend Gabriel Trozzi Stamou organized Wednesday’s rally. Trozzi Stamou recently launched Growth Canada, a student-led organization advocating for climate change action and Indigenous rights. The rally was Growth Canada’s first call to action.
“The Trans Mountain pipeline … goes hand in hand with climate change because it will contribute to our carbon emissions,” said Trozzi Stamou, 15.
Kate Grierson, 65, was among the peaceful group that met over lunch hour. Grierson said she “cares deeply” about the climate.
“We’re in jeopardy, my kids are in jeopardy and my grandchildren are in very, very serious trouble,” she said.
The Peterborough resident said it’s up to everyone to do their part to stop the deterioration of the environment and seeing two teenagers organize such a rally is “encouraging.”
“They’re begging for their futures and it’s really important,”
Grierson said.
Peter Morgan was also at the rally. He was involved in local events protesting the Kinder Morgan pipeline, now Trans Mountain, last year, and he plans to continue to speak up.
“Anything that puts the spotlight on what a useless project this is and how damaging it is for the environment is something I’m interested in protesting,” he said.
Seeing more and more youth acting against climate change and the pipeline is encouraging to Morgan, too.
“The more that young people get involved the more we’ll have cross generational participation because for a while it was only older people in town,” he said.
Most of the protesters at Wednesday’s rally were older and retired, but it’s not just up to them to take action, Trozzi Stamou said.