Dozens of Indigenous people and their allies took to the streets in Victoria on Saturday for a rolling protest against the Trans Mountain pipeline.
The group planned to march 22 kilometres from Centennial Square in downtown Victoria to Island View Beach in Saanich.
The march marks the first few kilometres of a journey that will span hundreds, bringing a tiny house from Vancouver Island to the British Columbia Interior, near the start of the TransMountain pipeline route.
Speaking as a representative of the Tiny House Warriors, the group that organized the protest, Kanahus Manuel told CTV News Vancouver Island that the house is one of 10 the group hopes to erect on Secwepemc territory near Blue River, B.C.
She said 518 kilometres of the Trans Mountain pipeline route passes through Secwepemc land, and the tiny houses are intended to provide shelter for the protesters who are attempting to block the pipeline's construction.
"We're living in four of them right now, and we have two more," she said. "As soon as this is on the ground and there's bedding in there, this is going to be a home."
Manuel said the federal government's decision to approve the pipeline is a continuation of Canada's colonial history, and one the Tiny House Warriors intend to fight.
"For the rest of Canada and those ones that support the pipeline: There is no consent for this pipeline," Manuel said. "There is no consent from our nation, Secwepmemc Nation, that makes up over half of this pipeline. This pipeline will not get built."
A recent public opinion poll from the Angus Reid Institute found that most Canadians believe the federal government made the right decision in approving the pipeline for a second time. Moreover, six-in-ten (59 per cent) said they believed the pipeline will ultimately be built.
Notably, the same poll found more Canadians saying that protecting the environment should be Canada's top priority for energy policy, rather than economic growth (55 per cent chose the environment; 45 per cent chose the economy).
This means that many people who support the Trans Mountain pipeline also say that protecting the environment is the greater priority.
Odette Jacquet, one of the people marching with Tiny House Warriors on Saturday, said she is personally opposed to the pipeline, but stressed that the need to shift to alternative fuel sources is more important than any one project.
Asked what she would say to someone who supports the pipeline, Jacquet responded: "That's OK."
"It's OK to support it; it's OK not to support it," she said. "I really believe that Canada needs to be more innovative, and we need to move beyond oil and into clean energy."
