c_jon_milton_terrebonne_manif

The Peoples for Mother Earth march, on June 9, left the city of Laval and headed towards Terrebonne. It was a sticky and hot day, and the marchers were in a rush. Despite the fact that the day’s walk was shorter than average — at 16 kilometers compared to an average of 20 — the marchers had to hustle to arrive on time to the planned demonstration at 2:30 p.m. in Terrebonne. Those on bicycles continued to do door-to-door mobilization, but a few delegates were sent ahead to prepare lunch, so that the marchers could pick up their food on-the-go and continue walking.

Once the marchers arrived at their destination in Terrebonne, they were greeted by a large group of local residents as well as Movimiento — a local marching band — who led the protest through the city, playing both original music and background music for the Peoples for Mother Earth‘s songs written by the Chorale du Peuple. 

After about an hour of demonstrating, the group found itself in a park where the demonstration ended. From there, the marchers and a few locals enjoyed an enormous dinner prepared by a local restaurant whose owners are opposed to the Tar Sands. Afterwards, some marchers went to a secluded beach by the river and swam in the warm water for about an hour, until the next activity was ready in the evening. 

Before the venue was turned into a place for everyone to sleep, the Terrebonne hall for the Knights of Colombus became a free movie theater for the marchers and any interested locals — of which there were many. The movie which was shown was Anticosti: The Hunt for Extreme Oil,and its director — Dominic Champagne — was present for a question period afterwards.

The film deals with a large island at the mouth of the St Lawrence river — Anticosti — on which oil shale reserves have been discovered. The film details the struggle between local communities on the island — who want to preserve their economy which is based on hunting and fishing tourism, which would be completely destroyed by the presence of shale oil exploitation –and various power structures, especially the provincial government. A striking aspect of the film is the fact that large corporations such as Shell have actually refused to pursue investments in Anticosti, instead opting to lobby the government to take on exploratory & development costs. As is the case elsewhere, large energy corporations seek to use public money to develop the infrastructure which will, in the future, lead to windfalls in private profits.

After the film, Champagne spoke to the audience about the necessity of resistance to extreme energy projects such as Anticosti and the Alberta Tar Sands. He spoke of why it is necessary that citizens’ groups “such as the march” emerge and directly oppose the fossil fuel industry. He applauded the marchers’ efforts and wished good luck for the rest of the journey. The marchers thanked him, and, after the hall was cleared out, went to sleep happy.