GATHERING OF EAGLES: Convergence for a Pipeline and Tanker Free BC will be landing June 2nd, in Castlegar at the Brilliant Cultural Center, from 1 PM to 5:30 PM.  This important event will feature:

  • Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs
  • Joan Phillip, Penticton Band Councillor
  • Gerald Amos, Former Chief Councillor of the Haisla First Nations, Kitimat
  • First Nations Traditional singers, Peru, Alberta & BC
  • Peter Julian MP NDP Energy and Natural Resource Critic
  • Alex Atamanenko MP, BC Southern Interior
  • Wayne McCrory, Valhalla Wilderness Society
  • Keith Wiley, Kootenays for a Pipeline-Free BC
  • The Doukhobors and Friends for Peace Choir 

Everyone is welcome to arrive early, to participate in a special Doukhobor prayer meeting, blended with First Nations, with emphasis on prayers for the Earth, led by Ernie Verigin, from 10 AM to 11 AM.

In conjunction with these events, Alex Atamanenko will host an Informal Panel & Round Table Discussion entitled: Pipelines, Tankers and Energy Policy.  It will be held June 1st, in Nelson at the United Church, from 7 PM to 9 PM and will feature Peter Julian, Alex Atamanenko and special guests. 

These events are framed to clarify the impacts of the proposed Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan pipelines, omnibus bills, C-38 and C-45, and increased tar sands production, along with options which will best serve BC. 

Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline proposes to ship over half a million barrels of tar sands heavy oil daily from Alberta through northern BC to the coast of Kitimat, where it would  be exported in tankers to U.S. and Asian markets.  The Kinder Morgan pipeline, which spans a distance from Edmonton to Burnaby, proposes to expand transport volume to a tanker per day to U.S. and Asian markets.  

The pipelines would cross ecologically sensitive areas, including hundreds of rivers and streams, the Great Bear Rainforest and mountainous and landslide-prone terrain.  Oil tankers and super tankers are proposed to cross the Burrard Inlet and Hecate and Queen Charlotte straits which are recognized as the 4th most dangerous waters in the world. The potential for irreparable environmental, economic and social destruction is enormously high.  Some experts state, “It’s not a matter of if an oil spill will occur, but when.”

Suggested minimum $10 Donation Youth-Free        To volunteer or for more information please visit:  http://www.usccdoukhobors.org/kruna/kruna.htm or contact:  250-825-4517 or nadia@netidea.com 

Gathering of Eagles is sponsored by Kootenay Region Branch United Nations Association in Canada, KRUNA, Nelson Chapter Council of Canadians NCCoC, USCC Working Groups, Valhalla Wilderness Society, Kootenays for a Pipeline- Free BC, Lower Columbia All First Nations, MIR Center for Peace, Eco Society, Regional District of Central Kootenays Area I and Peter Rezansoff.