Mi’kmaq, Maliseet Continue Anti-Fracking Protests in New Brunswick

8/6/13

It was anoth­er day of protest in New Brunswick as Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and their sup­port­ers voiced their oppo­si­tion to shale gas explo­ration in Kent Coun­ty.

8/6/13

It was anoth­er day of protest in New Brunswick as Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and their sup­port­ers voiced their oppo­si­tion to shale gas explo­ration in Kent Coun­ty.

About 100 peo­ple have gath­ered near the town of Birch Ridge, NB, where SWN Resources Cana­da and their sub­con­trac­tors have equip­ment and vehi­cles used for shale gas explo­ration stored.

SWN Resources Cana­da is one of the largest com­pa­nies involved in shale gas explo­ration in the province. Many Mi’kmaq and Maliseet are opposed to the explo­ration, say­ing that it will even­tu­al­ly lead to ‘frack­ing’ and cause seri­ous harm to the envi­ron­ment, espe­cial­ly water.

First Nations also say there was insuf­fi­cient con­sul­ta­tion done by the province.

Ama­teur video and pho­tos show a heavy RCMP pres­ence at the site of today’s protest, although the sit­u­a­tion remains peace­ful.

This is the fourth day of protests in New Brunswick, sparked when mem­bers of the Elsi­pog­tog First Nation seized a vehi­cle belong­ing to Stan­tec, which is a Fred­er­ic­ton-based com­pa­ny sub­con­tract­ed to SWN Resources Cana­da.

One of the pro­test­ers is Susan Levi-Peters, once Chief of Elsi­pog­tog and for­mer can­di­date for the provin­cial NDP. She says frus­tra­tion is build­ing with shale gas explo­ration and with the RCMP.

Levi-Peters says with ten­sions run­ning so high, the province’s Pre­mier David Alward should halt fur­ther shale gas explo­ration until all sides can come togeth­er and dis­cuss the path for­ward.

But she and oth­ers warn that with oppo­si­tion against shale gas explo­ration so high, it’s unlike­ly First Nations will agree to allow the indus­try to devel­op.

Here’s a brief time­line of events:

Tues­day, June 4

Mem­bers of Elsi­pog­tog First Nation in New Brunswick sur­round­ed a vehi­cle owned by Stan­tec that was parked at a restau­rant near the com­mu­ni­ty. RCMP inter­vened and brought the vehi­cle to the local sta­tion. Com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers fol­lowed and refused to allow the vehi­cle to leave. The vehi­cle was even­tu­al­ly returned to the com­pa­ny and no arrests were made. Fol­low­ing the inci­dent, New Brunswick’s Ener­gy Min­is­ter issued a call for protests to remain peace­ful.

Wednes­day, June 5

Around 100 peo­ple from Elsi­pog­tog and sur­round­ing com­mu­ni­ties gath­er on provin­cial route 126, at the SWN Resources Cana­da site. Wit­ness­es say although the protest was peace­ful, a large con­tin­gent of RCMP moved in and arrest­ed 3, includ­ing a 16-year-old. The Chief of Elsi­pog­tog, Arren Sock, issued a state­ment say­ing that the com­mu­ni­ty is opposed to shale gas explo­ration and that Mi’kmaq voic­es must be heard. He also issued a call for calm among pro­test­ers, urg­ing them to remain peace­ful and law­ful.

Thurs­day, June 6

Anoth­er after­noon of protests on route 126. Around 100 gath­er again and there was a heavy RCMP pres­ence but no arrests are made.

Fri­day, June 7

Over 100 are gath­ered at the site on route 126, includ­ing St. Mary’s First Nation Chief Can­dice Paul. Chief Paul has been opposed to the shale gas indus­try since the province announced explo­ration would begin over the win­ter.