Updates on land defense in BC, Canada

This update comes from Victoria Forest Action Network (VICFAN), a grassroots organization fiercely committed to land defense in British Columbia. See also The Courage to Speak Truth to Power, a speech by VICFAN's Zoe Blunt recently published at the DGR News Service.

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Cheers to the new year!
And to the gutsy land defenders who stand up to corporate villians and win (sometimes)
 

Read about the 17+ land defense actions happening in BC

People are blockading, occupying, and protesting corporate destruction across BC. Message us with news or to find out about joining and supporting community organizing to protect land and water.
 

2016 land defense forecast 
Skill-shares, workshops, and action training

We're putting together a training schedule for spring, summer, and fall in Victoria, Vancouver, Port Renfrew, the Walbran Valley, and Northern BC. Please get in touch to find out how to bring a workshop to your community!

To make these workshops succeed, we're calling for workshop leaders, cooks, fundraisers, drivers, child-care providers, and spaces for the trainings and for out of town guests. Visit the House of Solidarity to learn more.  

• April, May, June - Spring Training in Victoria, Vancouver, and the Walbran Valley
• Mid-May - Spring Construction Crew at Unist'ot'en Camp   
• July - Summer Caravan: schoolbus convoy from Victoria to Unist'ot'en Camp
• Fall Getaway - Labour Day weekend

Stay tuned for details.  Participants can donate on a sliding scale.
 

No pipelines, No tankers: the good news

Prime Minister Trudeau ordered a ban on oil tankers on the Pacific Coast, effectively killing the Enbridge Pipeline. (National Observer)
 
Experts say there is no way the BC government can make good on its promises about natural gas exploitation (fracking). It is not going to take off, thanks to falling prices, a global glut, and renewable energy. (Bloomberg)
 
Changes to the political and economic landscape last year are having an impact on pipeline plans and logging operations, but some companies seem to be on auto-pilot, ignoring court decisions, change in government, indigenous rights, the Paris accord, and reality. (The Tyee)
 

The bad news

Some of the worst projects are still going ahead in 2016: 

• Petronas LNG is preparing to build a fracked gas terminal at Lelu Island near Prince Rupert. Members of the Lax Kwalaams Nation are occupying the site.  
• Kinder Morgan is currently drilling test holes in Burrard Inlet for a new tarsands pipeline and terminal in Burnaby.
• Site C dam and hydro project is planned to flood the Peace River Valley in Northeastern BC to make energy for gas liquefication plants that will probably never be built.
• Teal Jones is logging cathedral forests in the Walbran Valley, Vancouver Island. The company has obtained a court injunction to block protestors.  
• South Island Aggregates is dumping toxic soil in the Shawnigan Lake watershed, Vancouver Island.  Local residents are in the road blocking trucks almost every day at 7 am. Three lawsuits are in process and a dozen people were arrested after the company obtained an injunction to block protestors.

There has never been a more important time for effective, strategic action for land and water. Please support our work today.
 

Walbran Witness Camp in the ancient forest

 

We're recruiting people to help hold back industrial logging next to Carmanah Provincial Park on Vancouver Island. Find out more here.
 

Thank you for being part of this movement to protect living ecosystems

VIC FAN is celebrating its ninth year on Vancouver Island, Coast Salish and Nuu-chah-nulth territory. Big cheers to everyone who took part in our victories!

WildCoast and Forest Action Network are 100% home-grown, grassroots. and volunteer-led.

Our projects are the Caravan to Unis'tot'en Camp, the House of Solidarity, defending the Walbran Valley, supporting Shawnigan Water Defenders, and the Eco Warriors Legal Defence Fund.

You can contact us anytime.