Arrests made at sacred fire protest in New Brunswick

(A man is arrested by the RCMP Friday morning near Elisipogtog First Nation. Photo courtesy @1tnb)

APTN National News
Twelve people were arrested Friday morning by the RCMP at the site of a sacred fire as part of an on-going protest in New Brunswick over seismic testing in the area.

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Chantal Farrah said the arrests were made because people were attempting to block trucks and workers.

Farrah said seven men and five women were taken into custody on Route 126 outside Moncton near Elisipogtog First Nation.

The sacred fire was lit by members of Elsipogtog on June 11 beside a highway where seismic testing vehicles are searching for shale gas deposits.

Opponents of the exploration fear that once the company, SWN Resources Canada, finds shale gas, it won’t be long before it employs a controversial drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, to get at it.

Photos on social media show some of the arrests, including one that appears to be a man holding a sacred pipe, with his hands in plastic cuffs.

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8 thoughts on “Arrests made at sacred fire protest in New Brunswick

  1. disqus_Ei1UPbyXd2 says:

    THis EARTH belongs to ALL THE PEOPLE..

    Lets kidnap the queen and send her to her new Cardboard box home in Tijuana or any other slum. Make her to live as she has forced others to do..

    God Damn the Queen!

  2. Beyond sad!!!! Peaceful people!!! What a misappropriation of RCMP recourses, beyond disgusgting!!!

  3. Why does the Government ignore the cries of the people , in greed the Government and it’s RCMP (HIRED GOONS) fight for what is wrong . They should remember tax payers pay their salary. someday soon the people will cut those off who are not doing what the people need .

  4. Sad, very sad, like Sidney Mines were not lesson enough for the entire extraction industry in Canada, blind profit driven Corporate run Government, seems destined to turn Canada into a barren wasteland farmed for its resources by Foreign workers and Corporations!

    Prayers and blessings to those keeping up the good fight.

  5. One of the main reasons this company is here is because they are facing class action law suits in in Pennsylvania and Arkansas U.S.A. that involves “Hundreds of People” Now they are in New Brunswick working on their very first job in Canada and will do the same thing here with the blessings of the NB government and having the RCMP make sure they get that job done! Where is the justice here!!!!

  6. What is with this country. The rationale behind members of Elsipogtog, who are trying to safeguard their way of life, benefits the integrity of the land for all Canadians.

    Canada is not a corporate annex and/or resource depot until those in authority lose site of the bigger picture and become the corporations’ pit bull incrementally. Apparently the RCMP have long since lost sight of that. Or more to the point, maybe it was never a consideration in the first place.

    People are not pawns to be used, abused and then discarded at whim and those in authority should damned well know this, they blather on about doing the right thing often enough. Or is it simply the case that its a one way street because the state is the ultimate arbitrator. More oft than naught the latter is the case.

    More and more, the rights and regulations supposedly meant to protect the integrity of life in Canada are being twisted and abused or outright ignored and when this is pointed out, those who do the pointing out become the problem and the jack boot of authority comes down.

    How is it that the leaders of this country presume that they can preach standards to the world then violate the rights of those at home?

  7. This is Harper’s Canada.

    But its not our Canada!!
    Save Canada
    Heave Steve 2013!!!

  8. The First Nations need to ask the government title of ownership over tha land in question, the document that tells everyone that First Nations in the area gave or sold the land in question. This is the only way to prove title…the fact that First Nations still live in the area gives them titlle to the land without question and should give them inherent rights to issue permits for exploration

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