Hundreds Gather In Halifax In Support Of Pipeline Protests
HALIFAX – Cornwallis Park was engulfed in a riot of colour, music, and chants of protest on February 23, as hundreds of people gathered to voice their support for Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia.
The Wet’suwet’en have been blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline through their territory. Their efforts have sparked protests and demonstrations across the country, including the blockade that prompted CN Rail to shut down its trains in Eastern Canada.
Sunday’s rally saw demonstrators gather to support the Wet’suwet’en, speak out against energy projects happening across Canada, and criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of recent protests.
Darius Mirshahi was one of the demonstrators. He told the crowd on Sunday that actions by ordinary people are causing the business and government to take notice.
“We see people blocking trains, we see people blocking ports, we see people rising up and confronting the politicians. And the Canadian state is scared. They didn’t expect this level of unity. They did not expect this level of solidarity,” he said, prompting boisterous cheers.
In Eastern Canada particularly, many are worried about the potential economic impact of the protests. Port Saint John has already seen at least one terminal completely shut down, while Port of Halifax is experiencing delays and lost customers.
But at Sunday’s rally, Sakura Sanders told the crowd that “fearmongering” by media and politicians is making the economic situation seem worse than it actually is.
“We hear that settler cities are going to run out of chlorine for clean water, even though indigenous communities have been without clean water for decades. But that hasn’t happened, because we all know that you can transport things by trucks,” she said.
“We’re also hearing that our shelves are going empty, but no one here has seen our shelves go empty.”
“Justin Trudeau talks about we are tired of being inconvenienced, but we haven’t even been inconvenienced yet,” she said, prompting even louder cheers from the crowd.
Sakura acknowledged there has been some economic impact from demonstrations, but said many characterizations of the demonstrations are overblown.
“It’s economic disruption, certainly. But is it impacting ordinary people to the point where any comparison to terrorism is appropriate? Of course not! It just means people just have to pay a bit more money.”
Bernie Francis, a Mi’kmaq language keeper, also spoke at the rally.
He said Trudeau could avoid further conflict between First Nation’s demonstrators and the RCMP by simply meeting personally with First Nations leaders.
“[A resolution] cannot be done with the RCMP. It cannot be done by sending an army. The only way to do it is to sit down and talk,” he said.
“Trudeau cannot be sending politicians on his behalf. He has to go.”