+ Video highlights from Defend Our Coast by Veronica Alice (below)
+ Alliance 4 Democracy video of Sunshine Coast residents, including Davis Bay Aerial footage by Daniel Sikorskyi and Rick O’Neil, edited by Jef Keighley. (below)
+ Thank you message from the organizers
Duane Burnett at the Defend Our Coast rally in Davis Bay, BC. Photo courtesy Caren Cameron.
About 500 people rallied together during the course of the 2 hour demonstration October 24th, 2012 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm which stretched 1,540 feet along the highway symbolizing the size of an oil tanker.
Malaccamax oil tanker. Google Images.
1,540 feet is the length of a Malaccamax Very Large Crude Carrier that could end up plying up and down the narrow and treacherous Douglas Channel to Kitimat to service the Enbridge Northern Gateway project if built.
Local event planners were told by the Defend Our Coast provincial organizers that the event in Davis Bay was likely the biggest of the 65 events around BC!
“I’m sure it was the liveliest and most enthusiastic! After all, this is the Sunshine Coast and we do it with style!” said Jef Keighley, from Alliance 4 Democracy
A big thank you all for your generosity! With the donations given in advance of the event and the collection taken during the event we are happy to be able to say that we covered all of our costs and have a little left over as seed money to finance the next activity, as that gets decided.
Thank you to everyone, young and old who came out to line the 1,540 feet of the highway in Davis Bay and turn a dull day into a happy and hopeful event! Thank you to all the people who forwarded emails ahead of the event, who put up posters on poles, on bulletin boards and in stores, who handed out flyers and talked up the event.
Thank you to all who have and will be contributing their photography, especially Daniel Sikorskyi and Rick O’Neil who were in the air taking the aerial photos and footage while we were on the ground. A very big thank you to Rod Powell, who donated his time and his plane to make the aerial photography a reality!
Thank you to Mary Bitroff, who bought her hot dog trailer out to help feed us and warm us with coffee. Mary donated 25% of the proceeds back to our organizing efforts.
Shishalh Elder Tharesa Jeffries with MLA Nicholas Simons. Photo courtesy Heather Conn.
Thank you to Nicholas Simons and Kim Tournat who opened Nicholas’s constituency office for warmth, free coffee and the ever popular ‘People’s Potty’.
Thank you to all Sechelt Nation people who attended, the original defenders of our coast, and helped remind us of the necessity of thinking seven generations down the line.
Thank you to The Local, The Coast Reporter, CKAY, and others who helped publicize the event before hand and provide coverage afterward to educate people up and down our Coast about the importance of the issues.
Thank you to the RCMP who made sure we were all kept safe and ensured the traffic flowed both ways with remarkable ease.
Thank you to the Sunshine Coast Teachers, the Sunshine Coast Labour Council, the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association and the Sunshine Coast Senior Citizens for your solid support.
Thank you to all who helped with the set-up and take-down, who collected donations and signatures on the petitions to Stephen Harper and who handed out leaflets alerting us all to the dangers of the secretive Canada-China Investment Treaty.
Thank you to the drummers and musicians who helped create an upbeat vibe! It was a great day!
No Pipelines! No Tankers! No Way! DEFEND OUR COAST!
Duane Burnett waives at motorists in Davis Bay during the Defend Our Coast rally on the Sunshine Coast, BC. Photo courtesy Karen Peterson, The Local.
Thank you to everyone who came out and made this event happen. I had a great time, even if my fingers were turning numb from waiving for two hours LOL… How does Her Majesty do it?
It’s Always a Good Day on the Sunshine Coast! Duane Burnett
On October 22nd concerned more the 3,500 citizens gathered on the lawn of the BC Legislature in Victoria to Defend Our Coast. Two days later we came together in 76 communities around BC to say No Pipelines! No Tankers! No Way! Defend Our Coast! The gathering in Davis Bay on the Sunshine Coast, was the largest in the province. This 10 minute video follows Alliance 4 Democracy – Sunshine Coast activists to Victoria and back home to Davis Bay.
People are coming together like never before to tell our provincial and federal governments that BC’s coast must be protected from tar sands pipelines and tankers.
Pipeline Blues
“Pipeline Blues” was inspired by a March 26, 2012 rally in downtown Vancouver protesting the proposed expansion of oil pipelines and tanker traffic in BC. This song reminds us of what we stand to lose in the event of a major oil spill on land or sea. By Barry Truter
Good man thank you for all the hard work you are doing Good Job
Mark Frenette
California, USA
Duane, ur an Angel. Seriously. Thank you Heaven for you! Planetary Healer. I and the world are indebted for your intelligence.
Gabe
You do so Much for this Community and We Love you!
Christine Moore
Gibsons, BC
Hi Duane, You do an amazing job of promoting the Sunshine Coast to the world! Growing up, I spent every summer vacationing on the Coast with my family & loved every minute of it. I'm so jealous of my family and friends that still get to call it home. From your photos . . . you really do know how to enjoy life. Keep up the brilliant work. ♥.
Sherri Terrillon Eustace
Bravo!! I am very impressed with your PRODUCTION & message. There is such apathy in the tic- toc world of PROFIT and ME-ISM. You show great passion! Bravo
Robert Mac Donald
Gibsons, BC
Hey nice “tease” posting, Duane!!! Even got a “Google Alert” about it! Cool! Thanks! Keep me posted! Have a great day,
Patricia Martin
Rhinebeck, NY
You are a wonderful person helping others enjoy life on the Coast!
Dawn Fox, White Rock, BC
you have a great life, live in a great part of the world, you are doing wonderful things with your energy and everyone loves you..
Trish Thompson, Wilson Creek, BC
I am so proud to be your friend, you really have your heart and soul in the right place and you are doing a great job. I am so glad the ferries fired you or else we would never have had the benefit of all your energy for the coast and the rest of the planet. Bravo Duane!
Trish Thompson, Sunshine Coast, BC.
I love you Duane you are so much fun, you put a smile on everyones face...thanks my friend..
Heather Smith, Kamploops, BC.
I recently have become a subscriber and love your contribution to our community. My wife Sherry Taylor has worked at the District of Sechelt for nearly 25 years and her and I both appreciate the public being accurately informed of the happenings of the Sunshine Coast.
Jim Taylor, Sechelt, BC
You have a sunshine attitude and that is good..
Yvonne Mikulencak, Houston, Texas
I fully embrace the fact that you are a full time creator and a part time shit disturber.
Nice Job Duane!