Fossil Fools Day demonstration in Kelowna attracts small gathering
Global News
In Kelowna, the demonstrators gathered alongside a bank near Orchard Park Mall, and sang and chanted.
A nationwide demonstration against fossil fuels on Saturday also included Kelowna, with around 20 people gathering near Orchard Park Mall.
Other B.C. communities where peaceful rallies for Fossil Fools Day were planned included Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, Duncan, Courtney and Nelson.
In Kelowna, the demonstrators gathered near a bank, and sang and chanted.
A group called Fridays for Future Kelowna, says it’s raising awareness of the Coastal GasLink pipeline being constructed near Houston in northern B.C., and is asking Canada’s largest banks to divest themselves from funding fossil fuels.
“We are standing in solidarity with the people of the Wet’suwet’en, their land defenders and their hereditary chiefs who have not consented to this pipeline,” said Erin Delfs, one of the demonstrators.
This week, police arrested five people in relation to the gas pipeline, citing violence against a pipeline employee.
According to Houston RCMP, Coastal GasLink says one of its security workers had been swarmed by a group of individuals wearing masks and camouflage.
Police say the group fired flares and gained access to a work vehicle, when an employee left the area because of intimidation.