(Video shot on cell phone offers glimpse of scene on Hwy 11 in New Brunswick. Video courtesy of Charmaine Sock)
APTN National News
ELSIPOGTOG FIRST NATION, NB–Demonstrations continued Monday against the exploration work of a Houston-based energy firm looking for shale gas deposits along a New Brunswick highway.
SWN Resources Canada’s shale gas exploration work faced protests throughout the weekend and the RCMP was out in force on Hwy 11 attempting to keep the demonstrators away from the company’s machinery.
SWN is heading to court in Fredericton Monday seeking an extension to an injunction against the protestors. The company’s current injunction expires at midnight.
Mi’kmaq community members from Elsipogtog have been leading the demonstrations which are supported by Acadian and Anglophones from surrounding communities.
Two Elsipogtog residents said Monday morning that the RCMP had hemmed in about 60 demonstrators in on both sides.
One resident called it a “stand-off.”
(RCMP officer, middle-back, holds weapon that fires sock-rounds. Photo courtesy of Jacqueline Clair.)
A day of action in support of Elsipogtog also rolled out in several parts of the country as banners unfurled in Toronto, Montreal and Hamilton, Ont.
(Banner hanging on Gardiner Expressway in Toronto. Photo courtesy @fiverfiverfiver)
Elsipogtog residents fear the discovery of shale gas will lead to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and pose a threat to the area’s water.
SWN has faced demonstrations for months. Heavily-armed RCMP tactical units raided an anti-fracking camp on Oct. 17 that was blocking SWN’s exploration vehicles in a compound in Rexton, NB.
More to come
