What an exciting week! Thousands of British Columbians came together today at the BC Legislature in Victoria to Defend Our Coast, sending a clear message to provincial leaders that proposed pipeline projects and increased oil tanker traffic are not worth the risk for BC.

As inspiring as today’s events have been, our work is far from over. For those who may not have had the chance to get to Victoria and participate in the first Defend Our Coast action, there’s another great opportunity to get involved—and it’s just around the corner.

This Wednesday, October 24th at 12 noon, passionate citizens and community leaders will be linking arms outside of MLA offices across BC to symbolize the province’s unbroken wall of opposition to pipelines including the Enbridge Northern Gateway project and the new Kinder Morgan pipeline.

There are over 60 confirmed actions planned for communities throughout the province, with thousands of registered supporters signed up to participate. To find a coordinated action in your neighbourhood, visit DefendOurCoast.ca/actions and look for details about a location near you.

For those of you in Vancouver, I will be leading a group to gather outside BC NDP leader Adrian Dix’s office near the Joyce-Collingwood Skytrain station. We will be meeting at Commercial-Broadway Station at 11:30 a.m. (SE corner at Commercial Dr. and Broadway) on Wednesday to travel to the office together. Click here for details, and to RSVP.

No matter who’s elected to lead our province in the coming years, we need a strong voice standing up for BC’s coast and opposing tar sands exports. The provincial NDP has come out with a position strongly opposing the Northern Gateway pipeline, but we need to keep the pressure up and urge all provincial parties to take a stance against both the Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipeline proposals. I encourage you to come join us on Wednesday to help make sure all of our leaders hear this message loud and clear.

This week’s events are a powerful reminder for our provincial and federal policymakers that British Columbians are not willing to stand by and allow our coast to be turned into a major shipping port for dirty tar sands oil. This is your opportunity to join the fight, support First Nations in their opposition to these projects, and be a part of the growing movement to protect our province’s communities, wildlife and shorelines from ill-conceived pipelines and oil tanker traffic.

Let’s keep this momentum going!

Ben West | Healthy Communities Campaigner