(EDMONTON, AB): Today, Spruce Grove-Stony Plain MLA and Parliamentary Secretary for Energy Searle Turton called on NDP Leader Rachel Notley to condemn violent and illegal attacks on the Coastal GasLink pipeline, its workers, and law enforcement – after her party voted to endorse illegal Coastal GasLink protests this past November.
In November, the Notley NDP Provincial Council passed a resolution endorsing the illegal pipeline protests in B.C. In December, the Notley NDP refused to support a United Conservative motion, expressing solidarity with all 20 elected First Nations Chiefs and Councils situated along the Coastal GasLink pipeline route who support the project. Turton said Notley must account for the radicalism in her party that has helped fuel criminal actions which have now escalated into violence, including an attempt to set a vehicle on fire while workers were inside.
“Notley must condemn these violent and illegal activities, as well as her radical party members who passed a resolution supporting illegal pipeline protests in B.C. It’s time for Notley to account for the radicalism in her party and immediately denounce the policies and people promoting unlawful acts,” Turton said. “United Conservatives stand firmly with all 20 elected Chiefs and Councils along the Coastal GasLink pipeline route, and Indigenous participation in the resource economy. By staying silent, the Notley NDP continues to support radical activists who want to shut energy infrastructure projects down and who are now engaging in violence.”
The Notley NDP has a long history of radical environmental activism in its ranks, including Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips writing the forward to “An Action a Day Keeps Global Capitalism Away” and Edmonton-North West MLA David Eggen chanting “no new approvals” at an anti-“tar sands” protest on the steps of the Alberta legislature.
