The SEIU-West Aboriginal Committee Standing in Solidarity With #PeopleOnTheLine

Written by Chris Mulhall and Ray Bidyk

Boots on the ground action is the lifeblood of an activist. When the opportunity shows itself, it is up to us to step up to the occasion. As community members, Labour Siblings, and children of Earth Mother, we were proud to lend our voices to the chorus of social and environmental defenders at Friendship Park in Saskatoon. Our committee is dedicated to a living legacy of action on PAWS

The action at Friendship Park was in conjunction with the Peoples Injunction – a campaign that aims to hold the newly elected Liberal Party accountable to their climate-related policy promises. The Liberal Party promised to include climate change and to respect community voices – especially First Nations – in pipeline reviews. Now, just weeks after taking office, they are breaking that promise and refusing to suspend or cancel the reviews of the Energy East and Trans-Mountain pipelines. The People’s Injunction action that took place at Friendship Park was one of many across Canada and aimed to demonstrate that we are all #PeopleOnTheLine when it comes to climate change, and we need climate justice now. For more information, check out this informing video.

After this heartening demonstration of Earth solidarity, we attended a panel discussion on Renewable Energy at the University of Saskatchewan, which was so well attended that it spilled into the hallways. Through the information, it is clear that not only is there a lot of work to do on policy, but also the way we understand and discuss energy consumption and generation: