No Line 9 Rally, Saturday Oct 19, Toronto

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

No Line 9, No Tar Sands Pipelines!

When: Saturday, October 19th, Noon
Where: Toronto Metro Convention Centre (255 Front Street West, Toronto)
What: Family-friendly rally with musical performances at the National Energy Board (NEB) hearings
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/231888730295797/

Enbridge is trying to pipe tar sands bitumen through Southern Ontario and Quebec, threatening the health and safety of our communities and waterways, and allowing for the expansion of the most destructive project on the planet, the tar sands. Enbridge’s Line 9 is a 38-year old pipeline that is almost identical in build and age to the Line 6 pipeline that ruptured in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. In total, Line 9 passes within 50 km of an estimated 9.1 million people, including 18 First Nation communities, and directly through 99 towns and cities.

But instead of opposing or even carefully considering Enbridge’s proposal to send tar sands through aging infrastructure, the project is being pushed through without as much as an environmental assessment. In fact, the National Energy Board (NEB) is doing everything it can to shut out voices from the public in the approval process, while First Nations communities say that they have not been consulted. From October 16 to 19, the National Energy Board will hold hearings in Toronto, but only pre-approved intervenors are allowed to speak.

When our voices are muted by government, the streets become our megaphone. Indigenous communities, environmentalists and labour groups have united to oppose the tar sands pipelines going west and south, and we need a similarly impressive display of mass opposition to any such proposal to transport tar sands east. Stopping the Line 9 Pipeline Reversal and moving toward a clean energy economy with green jobs would be a multiple “win” – a win for communities, jobs, farms, the environment, public health, and for our long-term energy security. Join us October 19th outside the NEB hearings as we say “No Line 9! No Tar Sands Pipelines!”.

Background

With the Kalamazoo River and countless other spills, we have witnessed the devastation caused by bitumen spills to homes, wildlife, waterways, and people’s health. Chemicals specific to the transport of bitumen poison the air, while the heavier bitumen sinks in waterways, making it nearly impossible to clean-up.

Beyond the very real threat to our communities and waterways, pipelines allow for the expansion of the tar sands. At every level of production, tar sands is a disaster. From the extraction of bitumen, to the transport and refining of the thick toxic substance, this industry is creating sacrifice zones everywhere it operates. In particular, operations in Northern Alberta are poisoning surrounding people, land, water, and animals, threatening the health of many Indigenous communities, some of whom are experiencing high rates of rare cancers. What’s more, the tar sands giga-project is Canada’s largest source of greenhouse gases, accelerating climate change, which is leading to droughts, floods, and other extreme weather conditions.

For more information on Line 9, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tK83lr7doA and http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/enbridges-line-9-pipeline-could-be-catastrophic-for-ontario-and-quebec

Rally speakers include: Clayton Thomas-Muller, Crystal Sinclair, Vanessa Gray, Amanda Lickers, Nigel Barriffe, and Carolyn Egan.

Musical performers include: Rhythms of Resistance, Raging Grannies, Helen’s Comrades, Petra Glynt, Lido Pimienta, Century Thief.

Rally Endorsed by:
The Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign
Greenpeace Canada
Idle No More Toronto
Aamjiwnaang and Sarnia Against Pipelines (ASAP)
Toronto350.org
The Council of Canadians (Toronto)
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)
United Steelworkers Toronto Area Council
Greater Toronto Workers’ Assembly
Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty
Centre for Social Justice
OPIRG York
Health For All
Rising Tide Toronto
Council of Canadians (York University Chapter)
Toronto West End Against Line 9
Toronto East End Against Line 9
Toronto International Socialists
No More Silence Toronto
Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network
Toronto Raging Grannies
Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape
Grand River Indigenous Solidarity
Socialist Project
Mining Injustice Solidarity Network
Common Frontiers
Science for Peace
Justice for Migrant Workers
Women’s Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu (Toronto)
Our Horizon
Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Christian Peacemakers Team (Toronto)
Bathurst United Church
DecLINE 9 Ottawa
The Student Christian Movement
Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Green Neighbours 21
The Brant Rallies
Occupy Gardens Toronto
Climate Fast
Greenspiration