Statement to the Court on November 19, 2018
by The Reverend Doctor Victoria Marie
Many
supporters were at the BC Supreme Court to support the five of us who were
arrested on May 18th: Judith Rees0-Thomas, Danika Dinsmore, Rev. Ron Berezan,
Jo Ann Murray and me. I was given the opportunity to address the court before being sentenced to 120 community service.
Judge
Affleck and members of the court,
The
first half of my adult life was spent in an alcoholic haze. However, since I sobered up in 1990, I have
dedicated my life to justice, peace and love for all of God's creation. In 1997, I joined a Franciscan Order of nuns
and remained a nun until my ordination as a priest six years ago. My faith and dedication to justice were the
motivating factors for my participation in a peaceful, public protest at the
gates of Kinder Morgan Tank Farm. I admit violating the injunction but my
actions were in support of the laws of principles of Canada.
For example, as a signatory nation to the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNRIP), Canada has agreed to
adopt and respect the principle of free,
prior, and informed consent
of Indigenous Peoples in all matters covered by their specific rights and to
obtain their free and informed prior consent when the
preservation of their cultural resources, especially those associated with
their way of life. By approving the KM
pipeline, Canada violated this principle with regard to members of the Tsleil-Waututh and other coastal First
Nations of BC. This made KM's continued
pipeline preparation and building activities also violations of UNDRIP.
“The federal Fisheries Act gives the Minister of Fisheries
and Oceans the legislative authority to protect fish and fish habitat from
destructive activities in marine and Inland waters.”[1] Kinder Morgan,, was charged with 4 separate infractions of the Water
Sustainability Act after illegally tampering with salmon spawning by placing
snow fencing in salmon spawning streams.
Kinder Morgan was recently cited several times by the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans for pile driving in Burrard Inlet at levels much louder
than those permitted during construction and failing to report the violations
as required at the time. Preservation of
the acoustic environment has become critical for Southern resident orca whales.[2]
Kinder Morgan’s Environmental, Health and Safety
(EHS) policy statement claims, “Kinder Morgan’s policy is to comply with all
health, safety, security and environmental laws, rules and regulations, not
just because it is legally required, but also because we believe it is the
responsible way to conduct our business and to promote greater environmental
responsibility.[3]” In contradiction to this, their workers at
the Westbridge Marine Terminal have put
a metal casing over an eagle's nest to prevent a pair of eagles from accessing
their nest. This is clearly a violation
of the BC Wildlife Act, which states: “A person commits an offence if the
person, except as provided by regulation, possesses, takes, injures, molests or
destroys” a bird or its egg, the nest of certain birds, including eagles, or
any nest occupied by a bird or its egg.[4]
I responded the way I did because my faith
demands it. I believe reconciliation is
not an event. Rather, it is a
process. Reconciliation is more than an
apology. Rather, it is the process of
building relationships of mutual respect and mutual trust. To that end my faith demands that I respond
to Article 48 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Call to Action, which
calls on all faith and interfaith groups:
·
to formally adopt and comply with the principles, norms, and
standards of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
as a framework for reconciliation
·
to repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over
Indigenous lands and peoples, such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra
nullius[5]
Like, Father John Dear, we Kinder Morgan Pipeline
protestors have a "vision of peace, nonviolence, and the new creation, the
vision of the promised land before us, the practice of proactive nonviolence,
that offers a way out of environmental destruction, as well as permanent war,
corporate greed, systemic racism, and extreme poverty."[6]
When I say I believe in the sanctity of all life,
that includes non-human life: the creatures of the sea and the birds of the
air. It also includes human
livelihood. Overriding it all is the
desire to follow Jesus' command to love.
That is why at the gates of Kinder Morgan Tank Farm we prayed for
justice for our Indigenous brothers and sisters and for Kinder Morgan workers,
we prayed for the Eagle pair evicted from their home. We prayed for the Earth and her waters.
In short, I violated the injunction because I
knew that I was to undergo major surgery in June and I did not want to die
without doing what I could to support the laws and principles that the
government of Canada espouse but were being ignored. These are the very same laws and principles
that my faith demands that I follow regarding Indigenous and all Peoples, the
land, waters and flora and fauna of this land.
Thank you for listening.
[2] Johnson, Mandi. “How vessel noise affects
killer whales” in The Islands' Weekly. 23 January 2018. Retrieved on 9 August 2018 from http://www.islandsweekly.com/news/how-vessel-noise-affects-killer-whales/
[4]
Wildlife
Act [RSBC 1996] Chapter 488, General Provision 34 http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96488_01#section6
[6]
Dear,
John. They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace and Nonviolence in a Time of Climate
Change. [Kindle Loc. 108] 2018
[2] Johnson, Mandi. “How vessel noise affects
killer whales” in The Islands' Weekly. 23 January 2018. Retrieved on 9 August 2018 from http://www.islandsweekly.com/news/how-vessel-noise-affects-killer-whales/
[4]
Wildlife Act [RSBC 1996] Chapter 488, General Provision 34 http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96488_01#section6
Wildlife Act [RSBC 1996] Chapter 488, General Provision 34 http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96488_01#section6
[6]
Dear, John. They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace and Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change. [Kindle Loc. 108] 2018
Dear, John. They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace and Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change. [Kindle Loc. 108] 2018
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