WLNG protest held during government meeting in Squamish

Over 100 people were in attendance at a My Sea to Sky organized anti Woodfibre-LNG (WLNG) rally on Friday.

The protest was sparked by a meeting between all levels of government to discuss the WLNG project that includes MLA Jordan Sturdy, MP Jonathan Wilkinson and MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones as well as local government and indigenous leaders.

Tracey Saxby of My Sea to Sky says people traveled from around the region to attend the event; “they traveled from as far as Whistler, the Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, Bowen Island and Squamish to come here and tell our representatives that we do not support Woodfibre-LNG. Howe Sound is the wrong place for this project. It threatens our public health and safety, its a threat to our environment…”

Local MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones says; “it’s a working meeting around all of the conditions that run with the approval and how we’re going to make sure, which I’ve committed to all along, the public knows how that’s going, how it’s tracking; and so we’re working on that.”

More than 10,000 people have signed the Howe Sound Declaration in opposition to Woodfibre LNG according to Saxby. She says; “Woodfibre LNG is not a done deal…”

Protesters held signs and banners with various anti-LNG slogans and chanted ‘No LNG’ during the demonstration. They also left messages in chalk on the steps and sidewalk outside of Municipal Hall. Several protesters were able to ask questions with members of government in attendance as they arrived for the meeting. One woman said to Pamela Goldsmith-Jones ‘we do not want LNG in Howe Sound, it’s not gonna happen, we will give our lives to stop it’.

Two RCMP squad cars watched the protest from a distance but were not required, as the protest remained peaceful but spirited, with all ages present.