Canada: 99 Detained at Protest Demanding End to Tar Sands Pipelines

As reported by Democracy Now! as part of its top-of-the-show digest news headlines:

In Canada, 99 people were detained by police Monday at a demonstration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reject the expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, as well as all new tar sands pipelines and infrastructure. Among those arrested was Clayton Thomas-Muller, a climate activist from the Cree Nation in northern Manitoba.

Clayton Thomas-Muller: "We know that they’re just trying to test the waters for tar sands pipelines to get that controversial tar sands oil that’s been killing Dené, Cree and Métis people in Northern Alberta with cancer, poisoning their food systems, poisoning their water systems, spreading climate chaos across the planet. Justin Trudeau is not the Disney prince that the media has been painting him out to be. He is in collusion with Big Oil. And we’re here today to support these young people, these brave warriors, for the sacredness of Mother Earth, to let him know that he needs to reject the Kinder Morgan pipeline."

Meanwhile, in Iowa, residents fighting the Dakota Access pipeline say at least one person has been arrested as a group blockaded a waste dump site being used by the Dakota Access pipeline company as it bores underneath the Mississippi River. The group Mississippi Stand says two residents locked themselves to a barrel to blockade the road leading to the dump site, halting drilling underneath the river for hours. This comes as court documents show Hollywood actress Shailene Woodley is slated to stand trial on January 25 on charges related to a protest on October 10, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, against the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota. Click here to see our full interview with Shailene Woodley on Monday on her arrest.