Photos: David Suzuki joins Burnaby Mountain protesters against Kinder Morgan as arrests continue

Sunday (November 23) marked a fourth consecutive day of arrests on Burnaby Mountain.

Among demonstrators opposing Kinder Morgan’s plans to run an oil pipeline through the area are two of the grandchildren of.

It's been previously reported that Suzuki’s granddaughter, Tomiko, was arrested on November 23 and before that, his grandson, Tamo Campos, was taken into police custody on November 20.

On Sunday, the celebrated B.C. scientist and environmental activist joined the group of protestors on Burnaby Mountain and offered his support.

“If we continue to look at the land and the world around us just in terms of dollars and cents, we’re going to destroy the very things that make this land so precious to us, the very things that keep us alive and healthy,” Suzuki said according to CKNW.

RCMP officers began arresting peaceful demonstrators following a B.C. court issuing an injunction on November 14. The court order provides for police to remove protesters from Kinder Morgan’s work site on the mountain.

Kinder Morgan is seeking to build a pipeline through Burnaby Mountain as part of its plans to increase the volume of heavy crude oil it transports from the Alberta oil sands to an existing port in Burnaby.

Mayor Derek Corrigan strongly opposes the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. According to a letter he sent to residents in October, the section of the pipeline to run through Burnaby is not a twinning of an existing pipeline, but rather one that will run a new route for 90 percent of the line proposed.

According to a November 22 Burnaby RCMP release, 53 people had been arrested as of that date.

“Most have been arrested under civil contempt charges for violation of the court injunction,” it’s stated there. “The majority were arrested peacefully.”

The morning of November 24, the site of the protest on Centennial Way was reportedly quiet. However, that is expected to change when protesters begin a march up Burnaby Mountain that is scheduled to begin in the early afternoon.

On November 23, UPI photographer Heinz Ruckemann made a visit to Burnaby Mountain and provided the Straight with these photos from the site of the demonstration.