Protectors of Burnaby Mountain vs. Kinder Morgan: Dozens Arrested as Inspiring Pipeline Protest Grow

[eridani]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/21/protectors-burnaby-mountain-vs-kinder-morgan-dozens-arrested-inspiring-pipeline

Ongoing protests in British Columbia to stop a tar sands pipeline project by fossil fuel giant Kinder Morgan escalated on Thursday night after 26 protesters were violently arrested.

Those arrested also included protesters who refused to comply with an injunction issued earlier in the week ordering them to move from their encampment on the mountain.

In response, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan promised that he was ready to fight a "war" in the courts with the federal government.

"This is going to be a war, and it’s going to be one that carries on for a number of years,” Corrigan told the Province. "The bigger argument that needs to be fought is: How much can the federal government impose its will on local governments and the ability of people to make local decisions? That’s really the quintessential issue that takes this beyond a merely local situation to being one that attracts interest from municipalities right across Canada."

In June, an independent poll found that more than 60 percent of Burnaby residents oppose Kinder Morgan's development proposal to invest $5.4 billion into expanding an existing tar sands pipeline and storage terminal—which the city says would lead to seven times as many oil tankers using the nearby Burrard Inlet each year.

At a press conference on Friday, Burnaby Mountain protesters said they would "remain steadfast" despite the arrests, and said the key issues in the fight against Kinder Morgan were "Indigenous rights, climate change, and protection of the lands and waters against corporate greed."