When Justin Trudeau took federal ownership of Kinder Morgan Canada, I wrote a letter to the PG Citizen about the soap box response of the B.C. government in the B.C. Legislature on the same day.
Recent events at the Kinder Morgan work site at the Camp Cloud protest site, Burnaby city offices and Supreme Court ruling have turned the pipeline saga into another soap box opera event.
The first is the obvious escalation of the courts in conviction of protesters with more serious consequences. Two protesters have received seven day jail sentences.
The second is an event in a Burnaby city office last week, reported by the Burnaby Now. A senior Burnaby assistant, a fire chief was called into an office for a potential disciplinary meeting. A senior Burnaby staff member, the assistant fire chief and a union representative were present. What was discussed was a transcript of a phone call with Camp Cloud protesters where the assistant chief said that he might not obey orders to extinguish the sacred fire at Camp Cloud. The assistant chief admitted at the meeting that he knew the conversation was being recorded and it was not his finest moment. After the 30 minute meeting where no direct discipline was discussed, the assistant fire chief heard a rumour that he was potentially facing the longest suspension in Burnaby fire department history. He made a decision to retire.
The third is maybe the most troubling. A conservative based movement in Alberta is making veiled threats to send a bulldozer to the Camp Cloud protest site. This is proposed as a photo opportunity to the investment world that Canada is open for business. An advance scout to locate a location for the bulldozer was allegedly assaulted by Camp Cloud protesters. Facebook post sthat go up and then disappear threaten to use a bulldozer to dismantle Camp Cloud if the City of Burnaby and the Supreme Court of B.C. does not remove the camp.
Soap box opera and yes we do live in interesting times.
Wayne Martineau
Fraser Lake
