A 70-year-old B.C. woman has been sentenced to seven days in jail after she and several other protesters blocked the gates to Kinder Morgan‘s oil terminal in Burnaby, forcing a halt in construction.
Laurie Embree, a resident of 108 Mile Ranch in the South Cariboo region of B.C., was among nine people arrested on Tuesday for their blockade, according to a press release from Protect the Inlet.
READ MORE: City of Burnaby going to court to evict Burnaby Mountain protest camp
In her statement to the court, Embree said it was her duty to protest unjust laws.
“Your Honour, I have lived my 70 years abiding by the law. But, if we look back into our history, there have been many times when our laws have supported injustices,” Embree said.
She proceeded to cite 18th century laws supporting child labour, 19th century laws permitting slavery and 20th century laws that called for Indigenous children to be taken away from parents to argue that laws that support injustices need to be challenged.
![Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/themes/shaw-globalnews/images/skyline/national.jpg)
Get daily National news
WATCH: City of Burnaby eviction order for Kinder Morgan pipeline protest camp
![Click to play video: 'City of Burnaby eviction order for Kinder Morgan pipeline protest camp'](https://i0.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/759/283/2018-07-19T00-07-32.233Z--640x360.jpg?w=1040&quality=70&strip=all)
- Police probe discovery of 2nd woman’s body in as many days on Vancouver beaches
- Sooke Potholes closed as crews battle out-of-control wildfire
- Highway 6 closed, evacuation order, alerts issued due to wildfires near Slocan Lake
- Close call: Wildfire burns to edge of Williams Lake before crews knock it back
Embree said the pipeline project “supports an industry that is not just harming children, or black people, or women, or Indigenous peoples.
“Your law, in fact, is supporting an industry that has been scientifically proven to be harming the whole world and every living thing on it.”
READ MORE: Kinder Morgan Canada boss says Trans Mountain pipeline work will resume in August
Two more protesters were arrested on Wednesday, according to Protect the Inlet, and they could face seven to 14 days in jail.
One of them, retired civil lawyer Ruth Campbell, told the group that she decided to join the protest after hearing about Embree’s arrest.
“It’s disgraceful that a provincial government that opposes Kinder Morgan is letting these arrests happen,” she said.
Protect the Inlet said it anticipates more seniors and retirees to join the protests in the coming weeks, when construction on the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is expected to ramp up.
Comments