Activists from around the Pacific Northwest gathered at Seattle’s Harbor Island, home to the Kinder Morgan offices. The rally was held in solidarity with the protests in British Columbia, as residents of Burnaby Mountain have recently been arrested during protest of a pipeline built across indigenous land. Chief Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation spoke to the crowd of nearly 100 demonstrators.  Having just been in the heart of the protests on Burnaby, words of appreciation were spoken to crowd as Chief Rueben George thanked them for their presence. According to activist and community organizer, Carlo Voli, the protestors made their way past the lone guard and into the Kinder Morgan offices, delivering their message in person.

From the event Facebook page…

“Lets gather on Sunday to express our support for those who have been arrested and all those who are protecting Burnaby Mountain from Kinder Morgan’s survey work.

There’s been lots of talk lately about Keystone XL-and fortunately, for now, the Senate has failed to approve it. But did you know that just 130 miles north of Seattle is another massive tar sands project–the Trans Mountain Pipeline, from Alberta to Burnaby, BC–and that Kinder Morgan plans to triple its capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day? This would add more than 400 giant vessels per year to the tanker traffic on the Salish Sea and greatly increase the risk of catastrophic oil spills.

In the last few days, in a beautiful show of people power, Kinder Morgan crews have been met by hundreds of people, blocking the company from conducting pipeline survey work on Burnaby Mountain, even though they have been slapped with a multimillion dollar injunction by Kinder Morgan. More than 26 residents have been arrested so far.

Sundance Chief Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation will also be present at the rally. Having just been in the heart of the protests on Burnaby, this will be an incredible opportunity to hear him speak from his first-hand experience on the mountain.

We will gather to show our support for all the folks across the border protecting their own communities, the impacted indigenous communities in Alberta, and the Salish Sea that bounds us all together.

We’ll gather for a brief rally and capture a photo we can send to the Defenders of the Mountain in Burnaby. Then we will try to deliver or leave a message for Kinder-Morgan at their port offices.

This is a low-risk family friendly event.

This rally is been organized jointly between 350 Seattle and Rising Tide Seattle.

Come prepared for the weather!

You can use this self-organizing rideshare form to help figure out carpooling: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DNdsx4dpp9K1Bir64rqV5OOk7afpwezPEbJWmeO9uFM/edit?usp=sharing

More info on the situation:

The City of Burnaby and its residents have been vocal for several years against Kinder Morgan’s $5.4 billion Trans Mountain pipeline and terminal expansion proposal that would transport even more diluted bitumen and bring even more tankers to the Burrard Inlet and the Salish Sea

Burnaby Mountain is public land (on unceded Indigenous territories) that is used frequently as a recreational area and is a designated Conservation Area.

Over 70% of Burnaby residents are opposed to Kinder Morgan’s expansion. (Source: http://is.gd/j79aOJ) Residents have been educating themselves through town halls, teach-ins and personal research and have determined that the risks to public safety and environmental degradation from Kinder Morgan’s proposal are too high. Many residents are no strangers to the harmful health impacts of tar sands crude given that the city was home to a terrible oil spill in 2007.

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation has also launched a legal challenge of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline and tankers project. This is the first legal challenge by a First Nation against the new pipeline and tanker proposal, citing the federal government’s failure to first consult Tsleil-Waututh on key decisions about the environmental assessment and regulatory review of the project.

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs just released a statement in support of those Arrested at Burnaby Mountain: www.ubcic.bc.ca/News_Releases/UBCICNews11201401.html#axzz3JgDNMIUS

The pipeline facilitates Tar Sands expansion on Indigenous territories along the pipeline route and at the source. This would violate numerous Aboriginal Treaty Rights and the overall well-being of these communities, many of whom have already emphatically said no to Kinder Morgan’s expansion. As the Supreme Court of Canada has consistently upheld, it is the federal government’s duty to respect these treaties, as well as the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples living on unceded lands along the pipeline route.

Therefore it should come as no surprise that community members are on Burnaby Mountain. These caretakers and residents should not be facing an injunction or a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by a corporate energy giant. Given the federal government’s failure to respond to residents, to Indigenous communities at the source of Tar Sands destruction and along the proposed pipeline route, and to municipal concerns, we laud these protectors for their bravery in taking a stand against Kinder Morgan.” – https://www.facebook.com/events/1506085126332784/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=1