I attended the anti-tanker/pipeline rally at Clover Point organized by the Sierra Club. It was packed with people of all ages and from all walks of life. There were signs, posters and speakers, all expressing opposition to expanded tanker traffic on the BC coast and pipelines across the province. I met friends and regional Council colleagues, as well as saw other politicians and dignitaries, all of whom are concerned about BC’s environmental protection. The wind was bitterly cold but the weather didn’t deter the turn-out or the crowd.
As a teenager and young adult of the 1960’s, when protest rallies and demonstrations were commonplace and I attended many of them, I realized today that I could withstand the cold weather much better than I can now. We stayed long enough to see and hear the passionate opposition to putting our spectacular West Coast at any further risk from the increased transportation of oil across land and on the sea.
I attended this rally in part because, as a Councillor who represents Oak Bay, we live in a community that boasts and values a spectacular marine environment and landscape, and should we ever be impacted by a major oil spill, the damage to Oak Bay alone would be potentially disastrous.