[Text: Tomas Borsa. Photos: Jean-Philippe Marquis.]
Last weekend, a litany of demonstrations were held across Canada. Ranging from small scale public gatherings to bonafide mass protests, over 120 communities participated in a “National Day of Action” to voice opposition to pipeline development projects, expansion of the Albertan tar sands, and anthropogenic climate change. We spent the day in Terrace, where the focus was centred firmly on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, slated to pass just 60 kilometres south of the town.
In Terrace, a visceral connection to land is still maintained by many. As Gerald Amos, ex-chief of the Haisla nation, put it during his speech to the crowd, “The crux of the issue is this: you don’t shit on your plate.” Hunters, trappers, and fishermen were represented in huge numbers, and illustrated the fact that in this corner of the country, disapproval of the Northern Gateway – and pipeline projects, more generally – is motivated by more than languid NIMBY-ism. Most of those in attendance carried placards, ranging from predictable protest-fare (“No Means No!”) to blunt expressions of contempt (“Roses Are Red, Oceans Are Blue, Keep it that way Enbridge, Fuck You”). By the time the first speakers took the stage, the crowd had swelled to 300-plus. Among the speakers, some zeroed in on the perceived lack of public consultation on Enbridge’s behalf, while others pointed to the sociocultural risks posed to First Nations in the event of an oil spill. Whatever their causes for attending, Enbridge was seen as a common enemy to all in attendance, and was accordingly treated with total irreverence.
Trevor Jang, one of the event’s featured speakers, made his position on the Northern Gateway abundantly clear: “I would be willing to lie down in front of a bulldozer. I would definitely be willing to stand in the way of a tanker should that day eventually come. I know that many [politicians] in this area have received calls from people specifically asking ‘where can I lay my body down?’ The entire community, from coast to coast, is going to be willing to lay their bodies down to stop this project – myself included.” Again and again, that sentiment was echoed by many others, from stroller-pushing yuppies to wool-clad grandmothers.
Ostensibly a proposal to diversify Canada’s oil exports by shipping Albertan bitumen to emerging Chinese markets, convincing the public to back the Northern Gateway has always been tumultuous. Putting aside the fact that construction of the Northern Gateway would be akin to placing a nuclear reactor in the heart of Narnia, it’s tough to see how it’s in Canada’s national interest to strengthen trade ties with China – a country whose human rights record is about as clean as an abattoir doormat. Nevertheless, the promise of job creation has lured many, and has been the backbone to the project since its inception. But as one person I spoke with put it, “the only people who will see increased income from this project will be drug dealers, sex-workers, and liquor store owners.”
