This morning, a huge banner was dropped outside the riding office of the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Pierre Arcand. This action comes in the wake of the River Camp being established at the entry to the oil company Junex’s Galt 4 drilling site. No to fracking, Junexit from Gaspésie, for an end to all fossil fuel development.
Frank Sorby: And I’m Frank Sorby, subchief of Gespegawagi Tribal Council. ...
Legal defense funds are urgently needed for Freddy Stoneypoint, an Anishinaabe man who was arrested Monday night in a police raid of the anti-fracking blockade on Mi’gmaq territory in so-called “Québec”. People had erected barricades and blockaded the site for over a week before a Sûreté Québec (SQ) tactical unit assaulted the camp. Protectors of the land and water are always confronted by the machinery of the police, in service of the oil companies. Solidarity and support for the defenders will be necessary for the struggle to be able to stop the destruction of territories. ...
Sunday, August 6, a group of native and settler land defenders blocked access to Junex’s fracking drill pads Galt 4, 5, and 6 in Gaspésie on Mi’kmaq territory, land of the 7th district in Gespegawagi, 20 km from the town of Gaspé. After securing funding from the Quebec government, Junex announced their plans to start unconventional horizontal drilling on this site in September. ...
Our 7th District Overseers Tribal Council is in full support of the defenders at the Junex Galt protest site near Gaspé. We have been in direct communication with the defenders in the past days and they attended our District Tribal council meeting last night in Listuguj asking for our support in the protection of our District lands, waters, fauna and wildlife. We as the District Tribal Council members call for the support of these Defenders and for travel to the Gaspé protest site, we as Mi’gmaq peoples have a duty and obligation to also be the defenders and protectors of our Ancestral District territory. We cannot remain silent and condone any oil drilling within our territory that will poison our lands, waters, fauna and wildlife. ...
I, Madonna Bernard, as a Mi’kmaq, of the Unamaki territory, and as a land / water protector, stand in solidarity with the people of Gaspesie for standing up again Junex to prevent them from drilling for oil on Mik’maq territory, land of the 7th district in Gespegawagi. We will support any defenders of Mother Earth. It is our inherent right and duty to protect Mother Earth as indigenous people. We cannot leave it up to the INAC system and the government to protect the environment, because it is a corrupt system. Their only goal is to make money no matter the cost to the environment and future generations. ...
Since monday, we’ve been blocking the road leading to Junex’s petrolium exploration sites Galt 4, 5 and 6. We are many anonymous and autonomous individuals, defending the water, the earth and the air with all our hearts. A second camp was created at the base of the mountain, near the rivière ‘fourche’, at the junction with the 198. We urgently need support! Come in large numbers and as quickly as possible! Police are threatening to intervene at any moment: two vans are currently permanently stationed outside of the barricade (at least for now). The maintenance of the blockade depends on your support. ...
I am Gary Metallic Sr., District Chief of our 7th District Gespegawagi traditional Tribal government. We want to personally thank the defenders who have set up a blockade to stop Junex from drilling for oil on our District lands who are in Gaspe right now. We will support any defenders in the protecting of our lands, and resources from being poisoned by these corporate raiders. All we ask is that it will be a peaceful struggle, similar to the recent North Dakota protest where any form of violence was not to be used. We welcome all races to join us in this struggle to protect Mother Earth and her resources. The most critical resource to be protected for which all life is dependent on is our water, in unity only can we find the strength and tenacity to stop the oil and gas industry in their exploitation and poisoning of our waters and resources.
On August 7, militant ecologists established a hard blockade at the entrance to the Galt Site on Mi’kmaq territory near Gaspé. This is a highly strategic action, timed several weeks before Junex is slated to begin unconventional horizontal drilling, and just after it was announced that their government cronies will be hooking their pals at Junex up with a cool 8.4 million taxpayer dollars. Because of widespread opposition to fracking in so-called Quebec and the Maritimes, and the fact that Junex is a junior company propped up by government hand-outs, we believe that this is a highly winnable fight. ...
On stolen Mi’gmaq territory, far from our barricades, we see the river that flows into the majestic Baie de Gaspe. In the distance, we see the forest, that was infinite, being devoured piece by piece by the colonial industries. The greediest of this world have come to extract these oil wells. Starting yesterday, we intervened and helped to reassert Mi’gmaq juridiction on the illegitimate property of Junex. On the road leading to the Galt Wells, we have set up a blockade and a camp as an act of solidarity with the land and water protectors of Turtle Island. ...
Heavy machinery of the oil company Squatex was set aflame in the middle of Thursday night in Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc. The company has already carried out drilling in the area. The equipment was parked on the grounds nearby. Emergency services were dispatched to the site of a fire around 8:30 Friday. The fire, which is now under control, is considered suspect by police. It would have started during the night. An inspector and arson technician were called to the site. ...
I started researching this article while at Standing Rock, after learning that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had approved a $7.5 billion pipeline project to replace Line 3. At the time, I didn’t even know such a proposal was on the table. In so-called Canada, the Kinder Morgan and Energy East pipelines have gotten the lion’s share of media attention. My first thought when I saw the map of the pipeline route was that it seemed calculated to run through areas where the environmental movement is weakest and where anti-oil activism would be most unpopular. My second thought was to ask myself what I could do to help stop it. I think that in more hostile political climates it’s even more important that local organizers know that they have the support of a broader movement. ...