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BC protester recalls White House arrest, as oil action looms
BC protester recalls White House arrest, as oil action looms
Thousands heading to Ottawa for mass act of civil disobedience
Kate Webb Sep 24, 2011 21:18:12 PM
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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Thousands of people opposed to oil sands development and pipelines are planning to demonstrate in Ottawa this Monday, and BC is likely to be well represented there.
Although BC is home to just 13 per cent of Canada's population, British Columbians made up a third of the 140 or so Canadians who made the trip to a related protest at the White House in Washington, DC last month.
Joe Lanteigne from BC's Sunshine Coast was among the 1,200 demonstrators arrested there. He says watching people from across the continent being arrested one-by-one to send a message to the American president was an experience he won't forget.
"Very old people, very young people, and everybody was so different and they're all getting arrested in their time, and it was just very moving - really something to experience," he tells News1130.
"I was telling... my friends in Ontario to go to the Ottawa protest, and you'll see, it's a really good feeling. It feels like you're in the right place at the right time, and you're doing something you believe in. It feels like you're making a difference."
Protestors in Washington were given legal advice and assistance by organizers, but Lanteigne says he was treated well by Washington police and released within hours of his arrest. Organizers of Monday's planned show of civil disobedience in Ottawa plan to offer similar training on Sunday.
Lanteigne thinks British Columbians are naturally more environmentally conscious, and that might explain why so many showed up in Washington.
"We're on the West Coast and that's sort of a Democratic instead of Republican sort of area, just like California. I think it bodes well for us. I think that's where people go when they think about the environment, maybe."
Though he won't be in Ottawa this Monday, having already made his point across the border, he is hoping to see even more arrests on the Canadian side, because each one draws attention to the problem of climate change.
"I think it's going to be pretty amazing, because in Washington it was a two-week [protest] whereas in Ottawa it might be much bigger, because it's only one day, so they might have a lot of arrests," he says.
"It's almost a bigger bang... I think it's going to be fun." |
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發表於 2011-9-25 06:43
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