VANCOUVER -- Stanley Park could become a training ground for civil disobedience aimed at thwarting the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project as early as this summer, the head of an environmental group said Wednesday in Vancouver.
ForestEthics Advocacy believes that anyone planning to engage in non-violent civil disobedience should be educated on the process and the implications, said the group's oilsands campaign director Ben West in an interview.
"We're looking at doing a series of trainings over the summer ... my guess is Stanley Park and other visible locations," West said. "It would be open to the public to come and be part of them."
Vancouver park board chair Aaron Jasper was initially taken aback by the idea, then joked: "Any chance they could do this in Surrey? How about Burnaby? It's a hassle to get to Stanley Park. I'd want to find a more central location and I'd even provide some maps."
More seriously, Jasper said that while parks are free and available for people to gather and talk about issues, something of a more structured event should involve park board staff "just to be in line with our policies and procedures."
West said he anticipates broad-based training that imparts "a suite of different skills, looking at what happened historically, and imagining based on that what could take place."
An unlawful protest that leads to a criminal conviction could have implications for one's employment and for entering other countries. There are also concerns that police and border agencies could share information even in the absence of a conviction.
"It's a very serious thing for people to take on this risk," West said, noting senior citizens are showing a strong interest in civil disobedience. "I want people to really understand what they're getting themselves into and whatever does happen is as safe as possible."
ForestEthics is one of several environmental and aboriginal groups gearing up for a variety of actions to block Northern Gateway.
On Wednesday, nine individuals staged a sit-in at the Port Moody office of Conservative MP James Moore in what could be just the beginning in a very long line of protests. "We're standing in solidarity with the 130 First Nations that said no to the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline," said Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, a Blackfoot from southern Alberta now living in Vancouver. "We feel very betrayed by (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper."
Five of the individuals left on their own by the 4 p.m. office closing time; four others were escorted out by police but won't be formally charged.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association, without taking a position for or against Enbridge, has already presented 90-minute protest-site workshops over the last two months to 10 communities from Haida Gwaii to Prince George, both non-native and native, including the Yinka Dene Alliance.
"Ninety-nine per cent of the time things go just fine in a protest," said Josh Paterson, the association's executive director. "But sometimes things do go wrong and police are involved."
The association's Arrest Handbook is available online.
The BCCLA recommends protesters use cameras and videos to record events, saying they may help to defuse a tense situation and can be used to document what happened. Protesters are discouraged from resisting arrest and risking further trouble.
While environmentalists didn't get what they wanted Tuesday when the federal Conservative government gave a conditional thumb's up to Northern Gateway, the decision is expected to result in flush of new cash donations to help fuel the fight.
In May, ForestEthics filed a constitutional challenge to the National Energy Board that alleges its review process of Kinder Morgan's plan to twin its pipeline to Burnaby unduly restricts participation and is a Charter violation of freedom of speech.
The group had a goal of $25,000 for the challenge but raised $42,000 in 48 hours, West said. "We do see large amounts rolling in every time there is a focus on doing something about Stephen Harper."
He fully expects the police to be interested in infiltrating groups in hopes of gaining information on civil disobedience or other tactics that Enbridge opponents might be planning.
