Idle no More protest in Hardisty
Idle no more, a movement who stand for indigenous sovereignty and protection of the land and water, planned a blockade, Saturday, Jan. 5 at the Hardisty Pipeline Terminal.
The event, organized on Facebook under the name “Turn off the taps” chose Hardisty Terminal as their location because they said “it carries petroleum produced from the traditional territories of Alberta First Nations.”
The event had over 100 signed up to attend, but only four showed up, with another protester joining on his own. When asked about whether the announcement that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had agreed to meet with Chief Theresa Spence, the Attawapiskat Chief who has been on a hunger strike since early December, protesters said that the meeting announced wasn’t “new,” but had been planned since last year, and didn’t change anything as far as they were concerned.
The organizers of the event, Dana Falcon and Mike Byerley, were two of the original four, and seemed disappointed with the lack of follow-through from the people who said they’d be there. Some of the small group of protesters had driven from Calgary to take part in the event.
Read the rest of the story in the January 8, 2013 Edition of The Community Press, on newsstands now!
