Order of Canada recipient Jean Swanson just before she was arrested at the Burnaby Mountain tank farm owned by Kinder Morgan. Photograph By TZEPORAH BERMAN/CONTRIBUTED
At least nine people were arrested Saturday (June 30) afternoon at the gates of Kinder Morgan鈥檚 Burnaby Mountain tank farm in the first mass arrest since a beefed-up injunction was approved by a judge.
Included in the group of people arrested was Order of Canada recipient and current 麻豆传媒映画council candidate Jean Swanson, who is 75 years old.
She could face as much as seven days in jail and a hefty fine.
Swanson released a statement saying she risked going to jail to condemn Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 $4.5 billion buyout of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline.
鈥淭he Order of Canada is given to people who want a better country,鈥� said Swanson, who received her Order of Canada for working with impoverished communities in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside. 鈥淪pending billions of taxpayer dollars on an oil pipeline given the threat of climate change is not making Canada a better country.鈥�
Morgan McGinn and Susan Lambert were among the others arrested alongside Swanson.
Lambert is a retired teacher who is the former president of the B.C. Teachers鈥� Federation. She told the NOW that the risk of going to jail definitely 鈥済ave me pause鈥� but she did it for her grandchildren.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like trying to stop a freight train,鈥� Lambert said after being released by police. 鈥淭he situation is so critical we have to take action to tell the politicians we don鈥檛 want this project to happen. My legacy as a grandmother means I have to do this. I owe a debt to my grandchildren.鈥�
After the first group of protesters were arrested, a second group of five people sat down in chains in the injunction zone. Police played a recorded message detailing the injunction, but the group didn鈥檛 move and they were arrested, and then released.
