Event: Fracking Moratorium Coffee Night April 16 7PM

2013 April 03, by Chapter Council

Date: April 16, 7 PM
Venue: Victoria West Community Centre
521 Craigflower Rd Victoria, BC Songhees Territories

Join the Victoria Council of Canadians as we watch a short movie and host a facilitated discussion on fracking in British Columbia, where the provincial parties stand on it, and how we can hold them to account on a fracking moratorium in BC until regulations protecting the rights of First Nations, protecting local communities and protecting the ecosystem can be put in place. Our petition at Seedy Saturday on a fracking moratorium this year gathered hundreds of signatures. We have invited representatives of local parties to join us for this important discussion.

Refreshments will be available. The event is free, but the Council of Canadians is donor funded, so donations are requested and greatly appreciated.

Background

Fracking is an energy-intensive extraction process that threatens to increase climate change and contaminate B.C.’s freshwater sources. The B.C. Liberal government has made its position on fracking quite clear – it is in favour of fracking operations in northeastern B.C. that use and contaminate freshwater supplies for unconventional gas.

The NDP, on the other hand, has stayed silent. In the lead-up to this provincial election, ask NDP candidates about their position on hydraulic fracturing. Will they do what it takes to protect water, reduce our province’s carbon emissions, and respect Indigenous rights?

The Green Party has come out in favour of a fracking moratorium.

Fort Nelson First Nation released an online petition demanding that B.C. Premier Christy Clark stop issuing long-term water withdrawal licences to the shale gas industry until the province has fully consulted First Nations and developed a clear water management plan.

B.C. has two large shale gas zones – the Horn River and Montney Basins – which, if developed, could account for 22 per cent of North America’s shale gas production by 2020. The province currently subsidizes this carbon and water-intensive industry. The time has come to transition off fracking. It is not the safe, green transition fuel that industry likes us to believe.

Fracking can destroy water systems, contribute to climate change, and is being done without proper community consultations. Let’s stand up for the environment and demand that communities be respected!