Canoers and kayakers gathered on Burrard Inlet Saturday morning to participate in an Indigenous-led ceremony aimed at protecting the water surroundings Trans Mountain’s Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C.
“No creature would exist without this water, so only good things come out of this water, only good things should go back into that water,” said Will George, a Coast Salish member.
George was arrested last week after he dangled 40 hours in a hammock beneath the Second Narrows bridge in opposition to Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
A group of people were hanging beneath the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge earlier this month in a demonstration against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. (Chantelle Bellrichard/CBC)
He said Saturday’s event is about ceremony and prayer, but others see it as part of the protest against the pipeline.
Greenpeace said it was attending Saturday’s event to show its resistance to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the increase in oil tanker traffic it would bring.