from Sacred Fire
We are a coalition of Mi’Kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Acadian and other Maritimers. We all know we have to draw the line somewhere. We are drawing the line in Kent County.
We are calling on all friends, supporters, local residents, and Maritimers at large to come to the sacred fire encampment. Let’s become the change we want to see. Join us for a week, a day, an hour, or even five minutes. We are committed to non-violent, peaceful means of reaching our goals: encouraging our elected leaders to change government policy, pursuing legal action, public education, and civil disobedience. We pursue these things with a sense of spiritual purpose and integrity. Each of us has unique skills and gifts to contribute to this urgent cause. Here are a few ideas on how to be part of it:
- Visit the sacred fire, meet people from around the Maritimes, share your own concerns, and be part of the day’s activities
- Make a monetary donation or a donation in kind
- Stage an anti-fracking event in your own community
- Organize public education, such as leafleting, mail drops and door-to-door canvassing
- Write your elected officials
- Tell your local media how much you value fair and balanced coverage of fracking and anti-fracking activities
Background
The Province of New Brunswick has allowed South-Western Energy (SWN), a Houston-based corporation, to explore 2.5 million acres of lands for the purpose of shale gas extraction, or “fracking”.
Fracking involves drilling wells that fracture shale rock beds and pumping millions of gallons of pressurized fresh water and toxic chemicals, including known carcinogens and neurotoxins, into the well to bring up the gas. This hydraulic fracturing process is known to cause earthquakes, contaminate water, and disrupt animal life. Millions of liters of fresh water become contaminated with a toxic cocktail of chemicals, petroleum by-products and naturally-occurring ionizing radiation that is brought up from deep within the earth. These chemical and radio-toxins travel through the food chain. There is no guaranteed safe way to treat and dispose of this dirty waste water. Some 7 million liters of dirty frackwater has already been dumped into the ocean through municipal sewer systems in Windsor, Nova Scotia.
The people of New Brunswick elected premier David Alward on a platform of enacting a moratorium on fracking. Once elected he changed his position because he views the revenues as a quick way to deal with provincial debt and unemployment. We know that fracking will not create sustainable jobs in New Brunswick. Even the truck drivers are brought in from the US. The few local jobs that are generated are low-paying, non-unionized and short-term. We know that all the profits will go south to line the pockets of multi-national oil and gas executives and investors who do not live here and will never have to suffer the consequences. We know that the human and environmental health impacts are devastating.
Seismic testing has already begun causing irreparable harm in New Brunswick. The people of Penobsquis are now trucking in their water; many of their wells have caved in or dried up and homes have started sinking into the ground after seismic testing. Insurance companies will not cover the damage claims.
The grassroots Indigenous people of Wabanaki are asserting their legal Aboriginal rights and responsibilities to their traditional territory and resources. They have not been consulted nor have they given their consent. This shale gas activity is not an isolated event but the continuation of 500 years of colonial exploitation. The Government of Canada has no treaty right or legal authority to allow a foreign corporation to destroy the waters and poison the lands, homes and livelihoods of the Indigenous peoples and of all their neighbours who are living in their territories.
Water is not a commodity that can be owned, it is a resource that must be cherished and protected. If the water is poisoned, there can be no sustainable jobs, or life at all. We are unwilling to accept that outcome.
It is unacceptable to risk millions of liters of fresh water being intentionally poisoned while so many Aboriginal and settler communities are already without clean drinking water. It is unacceptable that our governments are acting without accountability against their own promises and against the will of the majority of the people.
The Acadian, English, French and Aboriginal communities of Kent County are standing together peacefully against fracking. At present, an estimated 29 people have already been arrested for peacefully standing their ground to stop seismic testing trucks and equipment.
Right now, the physical presence of all our supporters and all people who care about the water and the earth is needed at the site of the sacred fire gathering to stand in solidarity and protect these resources for future generations.
We must stop this insanity before irreparable damage is done. To do that, we need your support. We are calling on the solidarity of all our union brothers and sisters, environmental groups and NGOs, concerned health agencies, and conscientious individuals to stand up for our common interests.
First and foremost, we need our allies present at the sacred fire gathering site currently located at the junction of highways 126 and 116. Donations of food and camping supplies, travel, print and communications resources, and money are needed, welcome and very much appreciated.
This is a matter of life and death for the next seven generations.
Please join us in Elsipogtog, Kent County, New Brunswick, and be IDLE NO MORE!
Our goal is the immediate halt of shale gas exploration and the permanent ban of the shale gas industry from the Wabanakik.
