The hearings really are a farce. I gave my considered input on Monday night and Sheila Leggett, who was heading up the panel that night, cut off my microphone.
I am 84, very polite, but very concerned.
I registered my dismay at restrictions to the hearing process.
Why should the energy board consider Victoria’s citizens incapable of behaving themselves at a public hearing?
I related my experiences at Clayoquot in 1993, when a completely grassroots movement finally triumphed after 900 arrests.
I was one of those arrested and received a three-week jail sentence.
British Columbians will find ways to stop any proposal that risks or damages the greatest treasure we have: our environment. After telling the panel that I would be there, sitting on the road in protest, Leggett said they were not there to hear threats of civil disobedience.
Certainly, the absence of the public turned the process into merely an excuse, so that the energy board could say it did “hear” from the people. Whatever happens, British Columbians won’t allow a proposal like the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline to go through when it affects and risks that we all hold dear.
Alison Acker
Victoria
