A small but determined group of “kayaktivists” paddled into Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet pre-dawn to send a strong message that oil tankers aren’t wanted in the pristine waterway.
Holding yellow flags reading “keep it in the ground,” the seven kayakers departed from Cates Park at 5 a.m. Wednesday to confront and stop a massive oil tanker from docking at the Westridge Marine Terminal.
The group came within a few metres of the massive vessel before the port authority sent them a message to clear the area. The ship docked safely in Deep Cove a short time later.
The protest comes a day ahead of a major decision that could forever impact B.C.’s coastline.
The National Energy Board will release its position Thursday on the Kinder Morgan expansion. The project would triple capacity to almost 900,000 barrels of oil a day, which would give a big boost to the Alberta economy.
It’s expected the number of oil tankers in B.C. waters would increase from 60 to 400 annually.
The paddling demonstrations is part of a group called Break Free from Fossil Fuels, a global “mass action” that has staged 20 climate protests in six continents this month.
“We want to send a message before the report that the community is opposed to the project and we’re going to take action to stop the pipeline extension from going through,” said Amina Moustaqim-Barrette of Break Free.
“We don’t want more pipelines and we don’t want more tankers.”
The term “kayaktivists” was coined in Seattle last year when a group of environmental activists in kayaks and small boats formed a blockade to stop an Alaska-bound Shell drilling rig.
