MORGAN Don’t give Extinction Rebellion extremists an inch
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
195.02011
Summary
The coastal gas link pipeline is a $6 billion project that will provide natural gas to Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada. But radical activists have been blocking roads and transportation infrastructure in sporadic protests all over the place while making the demand that the project be halted.
Transcript
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The only time it's possible to negotiate with demonstrators or protesters is when there's
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something negotiable. When it comes to the increasingly aggressive protests against the
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coastal gas link pipeline that have been springing up across Canada, there's just nothing
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to negotiate. I mean, radical activists have been blocking roads and transportation infrastructure
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in sporadic protests all over the place while making the demand that the project be halted.
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Let's face it, that project is a $6 billion pipeline. It's over half built. It's an essential
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piece of infrastructure providing natural gas Kitimat LNG terminal. And that terminal is an
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$18 billion project and it's nearly half built. There's no way we're shutting down those projects
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now. So we might as well stop all discussion of it. We can't negotiate that. Now the only silver lining
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can be found in the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in early 2020 was that it brought those anti-coastal
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gas link blockades to an end. They were blockading all over the place. They were blocking rail lines
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and they were ostensibly in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who by the way don't
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represent the Wet'suwet'en. And those chiefs opposed the CGL project in BC. Fine. But most of those
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blockades were occupied by white career protesters who need a little excuse to interrupt the lives of
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productive Canadians as they try to find a sense of purpose for themselves. That's really all they're
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doing. When people ask, don't they have anything better to do with their time? The answer is no.
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These guys are hippies and layabouts. They really are. They just want to feel like they're doing
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something. Governments at all levels are crippled with fear when it comes to dealing with these
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protesters, particularly if there's any kind of indigenous element involved with them.
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Politicians cower in fear at the thought of video imagery involving a native protester being roughly
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arrested by police. They avoid dealing with these protests as long as possible, but that inevitably
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leads to an escalation of it and there's going to be a confrontation. Unreasonable protests and
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blockades must be nipped in the bud early or the radicals are going to entrench themselves.
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It took months to dislodge the Occupy protesters who were squatting in city parks throughout North
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America in 2011. Negotiations with the squatters were futile because their demands were ridiculous.
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And by the time the police finally removed them, the activists had developed a feeling of entitlement
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in those parks. They'd been there for months. And then there were many violent confrontations
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that ensued as police were forced to physically get in and dislodge these activists from city parks.
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This all could have been avoided if the authorities kicked these guys out of the city parks
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months beforehand instead of trying to negotiate with them. We're in the early stages of what could
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be another nationwide period of blockades and protests against the coastal gas link project
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all over again. If governments don't take a zero tolerance approach to illegal blockades and
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disruptive protests right now, we can be assured these actions are going to spread. Politicians won't
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be able to count on a pandemic outbreak to save their butts this time, and they better act sooner
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rather than later. It's not going to get any easier for them for waiting. The embers of a national
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conflagration of violent protest actions are burning, and activists of profile are fanning them.
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We can't ignore this. Radicals, like that crazy old man David Suzuki, are using inflammatory language
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in an effort to incite even more extreme, more violent actions from protesters. Leonardo DiCaprio and
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other vacuous celebrities are tweeting support for these illegal blockaders as leading to hundreds
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of thousands of dollars being raised in support for them. In Edmonton, protesters were so bold,
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they actually set up a propane-fueled fireplace on a bridge as they blocked access and disrupted
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thousands of commuters. The irony of burning Alberta fossil fuels to stay warm in a protest against
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Alberta fossil fuels was seemingly lost on them. But again, these protesters usually aren't the brightest
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sorts of people if you get to meet them. In Calgary, the protesters blocked roads and LRT tracks
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downtown during the rush hour, leading to traffic snarls and infuriating the commuters. The irony
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of blocking green mass transit while demanding more green mass transit was, again, lost on them.
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It has to be understood. What these activists are doing right now is testing the waters.
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As long as authorities refuse to push back or make arrests when protesters push legal boundaries,
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the activists are going to continue to escalate their actions. They understand their demands are
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unreasonable, but they know as long as there's no consequences to their actions, they're going
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to keep pressuring citizens. We need to start charging and convicting these guys. We have
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laws for this. The right to protest is an essential one. Nobody's saying that those opposed to the
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coastal gas link project shouldn't be allowed to demonstrate, but we have to draw the line at
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illegal disruptions and attacks. Civil disobedience just isn't warranted in this case. There's no civil
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rights being violated by the pipeline project. It's a legal energy infrastructure project that has been
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approved by all 20 of the legitimate First Nations chiefs and councils residing near where the pipeline
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is going to be. Ironically, this coastal gas link pipeline is going to contribute to mitigating world
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CO2 emissions once it's in operation. Ethically sourced natural gas is going to be exported to states
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that are currently using coal as a primary fuel source right now. While natural gas isn't emission-free,
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it has many magnitudes less harmful than using coal as an energy feedstock. From a pragmatic perspective,
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the CGL line is going to help the world's environment. The CGL line, coastal gas link,
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and associated Kinabakh liquid natural gas terminal is going to employ hundreds of First Nations people
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in northern BC. Partnerships and revenue sharing plans are going to ensure that those communities
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are all going to benefit from the operation of the line and the terminal for generations.
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Now, these radical activists in opposing this line are actually supporting the continuation of using
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coal as an energy source in developing nations. They just don't seem to know it.
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The opponents are also working to put hundreds of First Nations people out of work while costing
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local communities valuable revenue. Political leaders need to quit hiding from these activists
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and start pushing back. There's a solid ethical case to be made in requiring that these protests
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remain within legal bounds. That is, not allowing the disruption or destruction of people and property.
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More protests are coming, and they're going to become even more extreme. We can anticipate blockades of
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rail lines, roads, and other means of transportation. People are going to be hindered in their free
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movement, and legal enterprise is being put at risk. These protests aren't sweeping the nation yet,
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but they're going to be coming. There's still time to stop this in its tracks. We can't stop the project.
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It's not going to happen. And we can't let these activists continue with disrupted actions unchecked.
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It's going to take a demonstration of political courage and will for a change, though. And I'm not
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terribly confident that we're going to see it. Again, our political leadership are terrified of
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protesters, and I'm not sure what it's going to take for reality to overwhelm their cowardice when it