SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Activists are staging an early morning protest to stand against tar sands. (Photo: Environmental Defence Canada/flickr/cc)
Activists Block Refinery Gates in Stand Against Tar Sands
"We want to send a clear message to the oil companies and to the Harper and Couillard governments," activist says.
Oct 07, 2014
Activists blocked the gates to an Enbridge plant Tuesday morning to protest a controversial tar sands pipeline project.
The action targets the company's plan to reverse the flow of its Line 9 pipeline from North Westover, Ont., to Montreal, allowing the eastward flow of crude from the Alberta tar sands and U.S. Bakken shale.
According to reporting by the Montreal Gazette, three protesters locked themselves to the refinery's gates, while a fourth scaled a tripod. The small citizen group was ultimately arrested and charged with mischief.
Explaining why they took the direct action, Alyssa Symons-Belanger, one of the four activists at the scene, said in a press statement: "We want to send a clear message to the oil companies and to the Harper and Couillard governments: the residents of Quebec are opposed to the transportation of the tar sands and are calling for an immediate halt to their extraction."
Canada's National Energy Board gave approval to the reversal in March this year, prompting rebuke from environmental groups in Canada and the U.S.
Supporters of the action took to Twitter to mark the action as it unfolded:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Activists blocked the gates to an Enbridge plant Tuesday morning to protest a controversial tar sands pipeline project.
The action targets the company's plan to reverse the flow of its Line 9 pipeline from North Westover, Ont., to Montreal, allowing the eastward flow of crude from the Alberta tar sands and U.S. Bakken shale.
According to reporting by the Montreal Gazette, three protesters locked themselves to the refinery's gates, while a fourth scaled a tripod. The small citizen group was ultimately arrested and charged with mischief.
Explaining why they took the direct action, Alyssa Symons-Belanger, one of the four activists at the scene, said in a press statement: "We want to send a clear message to the oil companies and to the Harper and Couillard governments: the residents of Quebec are opposed to the transportation of the tar sands and are calling for an immediate halt to their extraction."
Canada's National Energy Board gave approval to the reversal in March this year, prompting rebuke from environmental groups in Canada and the U.S.
Supporters of the action took to Twitter to mark the action as it unfolded:
Activists blocked the gates to an Enbridge plant Tuesday morning to protest a controversial tar sands pipeline project.
The action targets the company's plan to reverse the flow of its Line 9 pipeline from North Westover, Ont., to Montreal, allowing the eastward flow of crude from the Alberta tar sands and U.S. Bakken shale.
According to reporting by the Montreal Gazette, three protesters locked themselves to the refinery's gates, while a fourth scaled a tripod. The small citizen group was ultimately arrested and charged with mischief.
Explaining why they took the direct action, Alyssa Symons-Belanger, one of the four activists at the scene, said in a press statement: "We want to send a clear message to the oil companies and to the Harper and Couillard governments: the residents of Quebec are opposed to the transportation of the tar sands and are calling for an immediate halt to their extraction."
Canada's National Energy Board gave approval to the reversal in March this year, prompting rebuke from environmental groups in Canada and the U.S.
Supporters of the action took to Twitter to mark the action as it unfolded:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.