If anything needs the “stay calm” meme to kick in right now it’s the rhetoric surrounding Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project.
Several incidents over the past few weeks show just how heated tensions are getting.
Burnaby RCMP received a report last month about a man making verbal threats toward occupants of the “watch house” – the structure built by members of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Police talked to the man who made the threats, and he has since issued an apology to the group, with no charges being filed.
Following that incident, occupants of the Camp Cloud tent city reported their structures were vandalized, with intimidating messages in black spray-paint popping up, telling the group to “go home,” “f*** off” and “protesters not welcome.”
More recently, a Global BC reporter alleged the station’s news crew was “threatened with violence” when it tried to film at Camp Cloud. (For the record, reporters from the Burnaby NOW have generally – but not always – had good interactions with people protesting the pipeline.)
The main thing to remember in considering the alleged Global BC incident is to not paint all anti-pipeline protesters with the same brush.
There are several factions in the anti-pipeline movement. Camp Cloud residents are one group. The watch house occupants are another. And still more represent other organizations. But it can only take one person making threats to sway public opinion.
People from all walks of life are taking part in the movement. Most are peaceful people expressing their right to free speech. However, the peaceful protesters should be concerned that an angrier, so-called “anarchist,” element seems to be creeping in because a similar group of people helped to derail the “Occupy” movement.
The worry is that tensions will continue to escalate until things finally do break out in violence, from one side or the other. With summer coming, don’t underestimate the impact of the weather on tensions as we head into sweltering conditions.
What we’re saying is enough with the threats. Be passionate about your cause, but respect the opinions of others. We shouldn’t have to state something so obvious, but it’s clear some aren’t getting the message.
