Thousands rally in 70 places against pipelines and tankers.
from Leadnow.ca
SMITHERS, BC (October 24, 2012) — Communities across BC took part in a province-wide Defend Our Coast day of action to show growing opposition to tar sands pipelines and tankers on Wednesday.
At rallies held at 70 MLA’s offices across the province, demonstrators linked arms to symbolize BC’s unbroken wall of opposition. Participants were calling for a firm commitment from politicians to ban oil tanker expansion on BC’s coast, a move that would stop Enbridge and Kinder Morgan’s pipeline plans.
Organizers estimate that 5000 people took part in the demonstrations province-wide, which were organized by local volunteers with support and facilitation by online campaign organization Leadnow.ca, and Dogwood Initiative.
“This was a much bigger turnout than we expected,” said Leadnow.ca’s local action coordinator, Nadia Nowak. “Four people RSVP'd in Bella Bella, 120 turned out. We’re seeing hundreds of people in communities throughout BC.”
Emma Gilchrist, Communications Director for Dogwood Initiative, pointed to how widespread the actions were. “From Kamloops and Kelowna to Fort St. James and Campbell River, British Columbians came out en masse today to remind their politicians who they are elected to represent,” Gilchrist said.
“Politicians from coast to coast ought to take note that proposals to bring oil pipelines and tankers are politically toxic in every corner of BC.”
“Politicians from coast to coast ought to take note that proposals to bring oil pipelines and tankers are politically toxic in every corner of BC.”
“We know we have our MLAs attention,” said Nadia Nowak. “When you have upwards of 500 people gathering on short notice in places like Sechelt, and upwards of 200 people in Salmon Arm, you can see in the flesh what polling has been telling us for some time. British Columbian’s strongly oppose pipeline and tanker expansion, and they are mobilizing in their communities to make sure their elected officials get the message.”
The events with the largest turnouts were:
- Davis Bay, Sunshine Coast (500)
- Whistler (200)
- Victoria Beacon-Hill (200)
- Vancouver Point Grey (350)
- North Vancouver (200)
- Parksville (200)
- Campbell River (200)
- Salmon Arm (200)
- Penticton (150)
- Kamloops (150)
Events were held in the following communities:
For more information on the Defend our Coast BC-Wide Day of Action, and details of the event in your community, please go to the website: http://
For print-friendly high-resolution images from today's rallies, visit: http://www.flickr.com/
About Leadnow.ca
Leadnow.ca is an independent advocacy organization that brings generations of Canadians together to achieve progress through democracy.
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