Ex-B.C. teachers' union leader among latest pipeline protesters to get jail time

A former president of the BC Teachers’ Federation and an Order of Canada recipient are among the latest Trans Mountain pipeline protesters to be sentenced to seven days in jail.

“The rule of law is not necessarily just or even lawful. So I sat in a chair on a rainy Saturday blocking the Kinder Morgan gate,” Susan Lambert, 68, said in a statement Wednesday. She led the teachers’ union during part of its epic dispute with the provincial government over class size and composition.

“Having breached the injunction which protects the pipeline expansion, over my concern for a healthy planet, I am here today ready to face the consequences of my actions.”

Jean Swanson, an Order of Canada recipient and anti-poverty activist, called the pipeline project the “last gasp” of the dying fossil fuel industry.

“Why are the crown and the courts so scared of us ‘sinister seniors,’ that they have to throw us in jail? Because they know that if we take a stand against injustice, we can win,” she said.

“Every single person who takes a stand against the pipeline is pointing toward a more just future. If going to jail can be part of that resistance, so be it.”

Twelve people have been handed jail time now after they violated a court order to stay away from the Kinder Morgan terminal in Burnaby.

Others to be sentenced to a week in jail include Charlotte Gyoba, Hisao Ichikawa, Heather Martin-McNab, Kathleen Flaherty and Adrian Long. The group of seven was arrested June 30.

The judge admits "there are no doubt cases where the law is wrong", but he sentences Susan Lambert to 7 days in jail anyway #vanpoli #bcpoli #StopPipeline

— Jean Swanson (@swanson4council) August 15, 2018

Another group of demonstrators, Camp Cloud, have yet to vacate the area or tear down several structures they have built at the entrance of the work site, despite a judge ruling last Friday they had 48 hours to do so following a request from the City of Burnaby.

Protest group Protect the Inlet said four others, including an 85-year-old Victoria resident, were arrested Tuesday outside the marine tanker terminal.

Kinder Morgan was set to ramp up its construction of the now-federally owned pipeline expansion this month, which will twin the current pipeline between Alberta and B.C. and triple the pipeline’s capacity.

@ashwadhwani ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.