Tag Archives: Kamloops

Indigenous protesters arrested at TRU Trans Mountain meeting

The protest on Monday led to three arrests by Kamloops RCMP and closure of the Campus Activity Centre at TRU.

Mayuk Manuel, Snutetkwe Manuel and Isha Jules arrested 

Kamloops RCMP arrested three people at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) on Monday morning and access to part of the campus was restricted as a result of a protest.

According to media reports, a Trans Mountain roundtable consultation meeting about the proposed pipeline expansion was taking place at TRU.

It is believed former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci and his team were meeting with local Indigenous groups when the protesters arrived.

Handprints in red paint could be seen outside TRU’s Campus Activity Centre, as well as splatters of paint on the pavement.

The RCMP confirmed the arrests but wouldn’t comment on what the protest was about.

However, those arrested have been identified in a social media post as Indigenous protesters opposed to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

According to tweets by Kanahus Manuel, a spokesperson for the Tiny House Warriors, her twin sister Mayuk Manuel was one of those arrested along with Snutetkwe Manuel and Isha Jules.

An RCMP investigation into mischief and assault is underway.

In an statement, a TRU spokesperson said “the incident (and the protest) was related to a private event.”

As a precaution the university restricted access to the Campus Activity Centre until 4:30 p.m.

Cpl. Jodi Shelkie said the Kamloops RCMP detachment was aware of the consultation meeting in advance and had formulated a plan for dealing with demonstrations if they took place.

The roundtable meetings are designed to determine how the consultation process will unfold.

To see the demonstration, check out the video below.

Video posted to Facebook by Snutetkwe Manuel

By Black Powder, RPM Staff

Spill at Trans Mountain pipeline station in B.C. larger than initially reported

A spill from Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline late last month was 48 times larger than initially reported, officials said.

The spill volume reported from the company’s Darfield station north of Kamloops on May 27 was revised to 4,800 litres from 100 litres, the B.C. Ministry of Environment said Sunday.

It said 100 litres is the minimum threshold under the company’s spill reporting obligations, so that’s why the ministry estimated 100 litres at the time.

Trans Mountain spokeswoman Ali Hounsell said the company didn’t tell regulators how much medium crude oil escaped at the time of the spill.

“Trans Mountain had not provided an estimate of the volume spilled, other than to confirm with regulators that it was over the reportable threshold, until cleanup had sufficiently progressed to a stage where an accurate estimation could be provided,” she said in an e-mail.

Following an on-site investigation, she said Trans Mountain has provided the updated volume estimate to regulators.

Trans Mountain is in the final stages of completing the cleanup, she said.

Under British Columbia’s spill reporting regulation, Trans Mountain was required to report the spill immediately. The regulation says the quantity spilled should be among the information included in that report, “to the extent practical.”

The company turned off the pipeline for several hours the day of the spill, which the ministry said came from a leaking flow metre.

The spill was contained to the station property and no waterways were affected, the ministry said.

Two days later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government will spend $4.5-billion to buy the Trans Mountain expansion and Kinder Morgan Canada’s core assets.

Kinder Morgan had ceased all non-essential spending on the Trans Mountain expansion in April, vowing to cancel it unless it received assurances it can proceed without delays and without undue risk to shareholders by a deadline of May 31.

After the federal government’s announcement, the company said work would be restarted soon, with the government funding construction. The sale is expected to close in the second half of the year.

The Canadian Press

[SOURCE]

Protesters crash Science World LNG career forum in Kamloops (VIDEO)

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By Black Powder | Red Power Media

What started as a forum teaching about potential careers in LNG was turned into a protest by about a dozen demonstrators from the Secwepemc Women Warrior Society and The Caretakers on Tuesday, in Kamloops, B.C.

CBC News reported about a dozen anti-fracking demonstrators waving signs reading “Fracking endangers humanity” burst into the auditorium, where the forum was being hosted by the province, WorkBC and Science World.

“We went to intervene and let the children know that they have choices,” said Kanahus Manuel, one of protesters.

“Whether it is clean water or indigenous land rights, they have choices on where their position is going to be as the future.”

The protesters were eventually forced from the conference by RCMP officers.

The demonstrators tried to disrupt the conference again on Wednesday, but were stopped by RCMP and taken into custody.

About 750 students have attended the forum so far.