Protest at Enbridge's Hamilton site ends with 18 arrests

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Source: CBC News (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

Eighteen protesters were arrested at the Enbridge pumping station in rural Hamilton on Wednesday morning, ending a six-day-long occupation of the site by a group that opposes changes to how it's used.

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"They had told the police liaisons they would give people a chance to leave," Gayle said. "They didn't. They started arresting people who wanted to leave. That was surprising because of what we had been told by police."

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Freelance journalist Tim Groves was with the group overnight and woke up to a commotion just before 7 a.m.

"It was all really fast, then I just started packing up my bags and almost immediately the police were there, and the first thing I saw was them handcuffing people."

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Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/06/26/hamilton-enbridge-arrests.html

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http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/krystalline-kraus/2013/06/activist-communique-20-activists-arrested-tar-sands-line-9-

MEDIA ADVISORY

JUNE 26, 2013

BREAKING NEWS: 20 PROTESTERS ARRESTED AT TAR SANDS BLOCKADE, INCLUDING THOSE OUTSIDE INJUNCTION ZONE

CONTACT: 1-226-678-8903 (on-site); Syed Hussan, 416-453-3632, [e-mail] (off-site)

(Hamilton, ON) -- Hamilton Police moved on to the #SwampLine9 protest action in Ontario this morning mass arresting almost everyone on site including activists further up the street and the police liaison.

Activists have been occupying an Enbridge pumping station north of Hamilton, Ontario early Thursday morning. This action, dubbed Swamp Line 9, aims to prevent construction on Line 9 and block the transport of Tar Sands through Ontario and Quebec. This action is also part of the Idle No More campaign Sovereignty Summer.

News is developing. Much of the photographic evidence was seized but some video footage will be coming soon.


Quotes:


"This pipeline puts the health of drinking water of millions of people at risk of an oil spill yet Enbridge used the courts and police to arrest 20 people who wanted to protect their lives and our future.

This was a political action. We demand the immediate release of those arrested and insist that their charges be dropped.

The police went above and beyond the limits of the court order by arresting people off the property - people who were on the side walk, and even the police liaison who was on the street. This heavy-handed tactic comes at the heels of Hamilton police receiving over $44,000 from Enbridge recently.

Destructive Enbridge projects across Ontario, and Tar Sands projects across the country will continue to be resisted."

Background:

Press Statement on Injunction, June 25: http://swampline9.tumblr.com/post/53851715699/swamp-line-9-press-conference-statement
Media Advisory on Injunction: http://swampline9.tumblr.com/post/53838872671/swamp-line-9-locks-down-and-rallies-after-receiving
Solidarity Action in Support of Line 9: https://www.facebook.com/notes/swamp-line-9/update-swampline9-continues-support-actions-in-13-cities-sovsummer/191416174354528



UPDATES

http://www.facebook.com/SwampLine9
http://www.twitter.com/SwampLine9

#30#

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1. Thanks to Fire Walk With Me at Occupy Underground

for posting it first: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12528041

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2. First Nations have invited Minister Joe Oliver and Premier Alison Redford to come to the tar sands

The Tar Sands Healing Walk July 5-6: http://www.healingwalk.org/tarsands

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/i-will-be-walking-across-the-tar-sands-not-as-protest-but-as-a-path-to-healing/article12739223/

I will be walking across the tar sands: Not as protest, but as a path to healing

TZEPORAH BERMAN
The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Jun. 21 2013, 10:00 AM EDT

I was arrested on the front lines of Clayoquot Sound, I have marched in climate protests in Ottawa, Washington, Copenhagen and Durban, South Africa. I have sat in the board rooms of major corporations arguing the merits of taking action to protect the planet. But now I find myself on the precipice of what feels like a new experience.

On July 5 and 6 I will be walking a 14-kilometer road through the tar sands, supporting the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations, Keepers of the Athabasca, and the people who live in the region as they take time to heal from the devastation caused by reckless tar sands development.

Unlike other times that I have toured the oil sands, this time I will not be there to do research, to do media interviews or get new photos or videos of the devastation. I will just be there. Quietly walking with my teenage niece.

Unlike many of the other things I have done in my life, this is not a protest. This is a spiritual event where elders will lead us through traditional ceremonies designed to heal the people and the land that is in peril.

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The First Nations I have spoken to want to find a way to have economic development in their communities and to protect the land and water that sustains them. To open the dialogue on how to do this, the Keepers of the Athabasca and the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations have invited Minister Joe Oliver and Premier Alison Redford to come to the tar sands and walk the land, breath the air, and drink the water that the local people deal with every day. So far over 7000 people across Canada have also sent invitations.

I urge Minister Oliver and Premier Redford and MPs and MLAs of all parties to join the Healing Walk and walk a mile on the shoes of the First Nations and Metis of Northern Alberta. Maybe then we will be able to stop falling into the perpetual trap of the jobs-versus-environment argument that has plagued this country for far too long, and we can start working on creating good jobs and a healthy environment.

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