Rob's Ramblings

Burns Bog Pilgrimage Originally uploaded by Rob__ Over 100 people participated in a pilgrimage to Burns Bog on Sunday. The event organized by a multi-faith coalition had participants walk over the Alex Fraser bridge and then though the Delta Nature Conservancy. The pilgrimage was designed to draw attention to the damage that the South Fraser Primeter Road (SFPR) will cause to the environmentally sensitive bog. Burns Bog has been listed as threatened by the International Mire Conservation Group because of the impacts of the SFPR. In response to the mitigation measures proposed the Environmental Stewardship Branch of Environment Canada wrote that "...that the changes are not sufficient to alleviate its concerns related to the impacts of the Project on Pacific Water Shrew (PWS), hydrology, aerial deposition, and ecological integrity of Burns Bog."

VANCOUVER - The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation and the Wilderness Committee delivered petitions with over 10,000 signers to the Premier's office today. The petitions ask that the government cancel the Gateway Program's highway expansion components and invest more in transit instead. The gateway program is a transportation infrastructure project that includes over 260 km of new highway lanes. Dozens of activists rallied outside the office in downtown Vancouver including two dressed as polar bears.  The premier's office initially declined to accept the invitations.  After the activists attempted to enter the nearby convention centre where the premier was speaking, staff working with the Premier agreed to accept the petitions. “Translink is currently exhausting its capital reserves just to keep existing service going,” said Karen Wristen, Executive Director of SPEC. “At this rate, they will be broke in two years. We simply can’t afford both freeway expansion and...

Saturday also saw citizens from West Vancouver to Chilliwack hoist banners on Highway 1 overpasses across the region in a coordinated Day of Action, with slogans such as "Stop the Gateway to Global Warming" and "Better Transit, Not Freeways". Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in BC, and the protestors said emissions are expected to rise substantially if the Gateway Project is built. Activists South of the Fraser also marked the riding office of provincial Highways Minister Kevin Falcon a "Global Warming Crime Scene" Saturday morning, and piled sand used by Ministry contractors for highway construction in front of the door. "Kevin Falcon is a Climate Criminal, bulldozing us with freeways, and roasting the planet with greenhouse gases," said Surrey resident Jim Shook as he attached large strips of yellow "Global Warming Crime Scene" tape across the door to Falcon's office. "In solidarity with the re...