The Dominion - Franklin López

Action Camp Blocks Pipeline

Sandra — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:08:50 +0000

Pacific Trails line would help clear the path for Northern Gateway line from the tar sands

UNIS'TOT'EN TERRITORY—Indigenous resistance to oil and gas pipelines rages on in northern BC. The Unis'tot'en, a clan of the Wet'suet'en Nation, have built a protection camp to block the Pacific Trails Pipeline. For the third time, they called for a convergence in their unceded territories.

This year's camp attracted over 150 people who came from as far east as Montreal and as far south as Florida. The camp organizers reached out to grassroots, community based allies, opting not to tap large environmental NGO's for material support.

Out of the proposed pipeline projects that would cross through Unis'tot'en land, Pacific Trails is the first one slated to begin construction and poses an immediate threat. The natural gas transport project is owned by a partnership between Apache Canada, EOG Resources—formerly Enron Oil and Gas—and Encana. The 463 kilometre PTP pipeline would connect the Spectra Energy Westcoast Pipeline in northeastern BC to a liquified natural gas port on the Pacific Coast, with the aim of transporting gas extracted through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to overseas markets.

The much talked about Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline proposed for the transportation of tar sands oil to the west coast would be built side-by-side the PTP.

Run on the Banks in Vancouver

dawn — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:19:28 +0000

VANCOUVER-On Saturday, October 24, the people at Occupy Vancouver moved from the eternal process of the general assembly to the exciting world of direct action.

The "Run on the Banks" action marks an escalation on an occupation that's been busy building infrastructure. This was not an official Occupy Vancouver action but an offshoot, as stated on occupy Vancouver's twitter account.

About a thousand trouble makers made their way through the streets of Downtown Vancouver with the intention to occupy corporate banks and encourage folks to close their accounts.

And that they did. This Royal Bank of Canada was the first target, with about 50 people jamming the lobby while some withdraw their cash.

At the Bank of Montreal people shut down their account and moved to other options.

But the cherry on top was the Occupation of TD, or Toronto Dominion Bank, right next to the Occupy Vancouver camp at the Art Gallery. A home stereo was cranked to the max and the people rocked out on top of teller desks and furniture.

An idea was floated around to continue occupying through the night, but the group could not reach consensus, and the process ultimately disrupted the party.

The police quietly moved in and occupied the spots where tellers once stood to protect their corporate masters. Finally the group decided to move out en-masse and avoid arrest.

This piece was originally produced for the Vancouver Media Co-op. Franklin López is a Vancouver based filmmaker and creator of Submedia.tv.

Run on the Banks in Vancouver

dawn — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:26:50 +0000

Occupy Vancouver participants up the ante

Screen Shot 2011-10-24 at 10.47.jpg

VANCOUVER—On Saturday, October 24, the people at Occupy Vancouver moved from the eternal process of the general assembly to the exciting world of direct action.

The "Run on the Banks" action marked an escalation on an occupation that's been busy building infrastructure. This was not an official Occupy Vancouver action but an offshoot, as stated on Occupy Vancouver's twitter account.

About 1,000 trouble-makers made their way through the streets of downtown Vancouver with the intention to occupy corporate banks and encourage folks to close their accounts.

And that they did. A Royal Bank of Canada branch was the first target, with about 50 people jamming the lobby while some withdrew their cash.

At the Bank of Montreal people shut down their account and moved to other options.

But the cherry on top was the occupation of TD, or Toronto Dominion Bank, right next to the Occupy Vancouver camp at the Art Gallery. A home stereo was cranked to the max and the people rocked out on top of teller desks and furniture.

An idea was floated around to continue occupying through the night, but the group could not reach consensus, and the process ultimately disrupted the party.

The police quietly moved in and occupied the spots where tellers once stood to protect their corporate masters. Finally the group decided to move out en masse and avoid arrest.