Enviros plan mass sit-in at B.C. legislature over Northern Gateway pipeline

VANCOUVER – Environmentalists are organizing what they’re calling the “largest act of peaceful civil disobedience” in Canada to protest the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast.

Greenpeace Canada says a mass sit-in planned for the front lawn of the B.C. legislature in Victoria on Oct.22 is backed by more than 80 leaders from the business, First Nations, environmental, labour and academic communities across Canada.

The group says those supporters include environmentalist David Suzuki, former Canadian UN ambassador Stephen Lewis, Council of Canadians chair Maude Barlow, lawyer Clayton Ruby, author Naomi Klein and economist Mark Jaccard.

Barlow says the protest will show that you can’t gut Canada’s environmental laws and try to put a price tag on the B.C. coast without a public response.

Environmentalist Tzeporah (Zep-or-ah) Berman says the risk of oil spills from pipelines and tankers is too great and it’s time to take a stand to defend the B.C. coast.

The sit-in is aimed building on similar protests last year, including one in Ottawa in September and another in Washington D.C. in August that opposed the Keystone XL pipeline.