Amy Ann Lubik, left, Don Gillespie and Norma Gillespie were among about 30 protesters outside Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth's office on Wednesday. People gathered at MLAs offices right across B.C. as part of a Defend Our Coast Day to show opposition to tar sands, pipelines and tankers. Sixty-seven rallies were planned for Wednesday, and an estimated 2,500 people protested outside the legislature in Victoria on Monday.
Photograph by: Lisa King , NOW
About 30 people showed up at Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth's constituency office Wednesday to lend their opposing voices to any future oil pipeline expansion and increased tanker traffic in the province.
The show of solidarity was part of a larger movement called Defend Our Coast Day, and demonstrations took place at dozens of MLA offices across the province.
Though Farnworth was out of town and unable to attend the event, Port Coquitlam Coun. Brad West spoke on his behalf and voiced his opposition to both the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and the potential for increased oil tanker traffic along the B.C. coast.
"Unlike any other issue that I can remember in recent times, the issue of Enbridge and pipelines and defending our coast has really attracted young people towards this cause," said West, 27. "I'm glad that young people are standing up and expressing their opinions on this important issue."
Like West, Amy Ann Lubik, the organizer of Wednesday's rally, was amongst those in the Generation Y category who felt impassioned to speak up.
She spoke to her love for the areas throughout central and northern B.C. known as the Great Bear Rainforest, which is home to Kermode, or Spirit Bear, populations.
Should the Enbridge project receive approval, the pipeline will be built in the Spirit Bear's habitat.
"According to native legends, the raven made the Great Bear rainforest for the Spirit Bear, which is a symbol of peace on Earth," Lubik said. "I think that habitat warrants protection as I think all the habitats along that pipeline route warrant protections."
Outside of those speeches, those in attendance held an informal question-and-answer period around the Enbridge proposal, and many took aim at the Conservative government.
[Prime Minister Stephen Harper] seems to want to sell off everything that we have," said Sandy Budd. "There are alternative fuel sources: there's wind, there's the sun, there's solar power, there are so many sources. Other countries are doing it and we're being shamed because of our reliance on oil. And we should be ashamed."
Similar protests were also staged at Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Diane Thorne's office, Port Moody-Coquitlam MLA Joe Trasolini's office and Coquitlam-Burke Mountain MLA Doug Horne's office.
Wednesday's events were preceded by a massive demonstration Monday on the lawn of the legislature in Victoria.
Amy Ann Lubik, left, Don Gillespie and Norma Gillespie were among about 30 protesters outside Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth's office on Wednesday. People gathered at MLAs offices right across B.C. as part of a Defend Our Coast Day to show opposition to tar sands, pipelines and tankers. Sixty-seven rallies were planned for Wednesday, and an estimated 2,500 people protested outside the legislature in Victoria on Monday.
Photograph by: Lisa King , NOW
