Video story by CTV for BC. View story
Tag Archives: Video
Greenpeace protests oil tankers off B.C. coast
Story with video by Peter Grainger at CTV for BC. “Protestors from Greenpeace, the Wilderness Committee and No Tanks! gathered in Vancouver’s Stanley Park Sunday to picket oil tankers off the B.C. coast, arguing it’s only a matter of time before a devastating spill occurs.” Read article
Enemies of the State
A documentary in CBC’s The Fifth Estate series. The subject of this one is a top-secret plan called “Profunc” drawn up at the beginning of the Korean War, which would have interned people perceived to be a threat to Canadian democracy. The entire documentary (45 minutes) is on this page.
Light rail to the valley
Story by CBC British Columbia. A new report says a light rail commuter line with 18 stops from Surrey to Chilliwack, B.C., would be an inexpensive way to beat traffic congestion in the Fraser Valley.
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Historic Fraser Sockeye Fishery Caught in Hi-Def
In mid-September, Damien Gillis had the rare privilege to capture this year’s astonishing sockeye fishery, off the south arm of the Fraser River. Amidst the largest Fraser sockeye return in nearly a century – some 35 million fish – Damien caught up with the commercial seine boat Snow Queen, hard at work. During one of the last openings of the season, Gillis documented the “set” of a lifetime for Captain Mitch Ponak and his crew: over 35,000 sockeye in one seine. It’s all covered here in vivid detail in this entertaining 6 min video.
Much has been said about this year’s unanticipated sockeye return – including erroneous claims from the fish farm industry that it somehow “proves” open net salmon farms aren’t adversely impacting wild salmon; if anything, it has raised more questions than it has answered. On this sunny September day, however, these amazing sockeye were a welcome sight and reminder of what healthy wild salmon runs mean to the communities, cultures, and economies of the entire BC coast and province – and of why we should be doing everything in our power to give these fish a fighting chance.
Video: Historic Fraser Sockeye Fishery Caught in Hi-Def
In mid-September, Damien Gillis had the rare privilege to capture this year’s astonishing sockeye fishery, off the south arm of the Fraser River. Amidst the largest Fraser sockeye return in nearly a century – some 35 million fish – Damien caught up with the commercial seine boat Snow Queen, hard at work. During one of the last openings of the season, Gillis documented the “set” of a lifetime for Captain Mitch Ponak and his crew: over 35,000 sockeye in one seine. It’s all covered here in vivid detail in this entertaining 6 min video.
Much has been said about this year’s unanticipated sockeye return – including erroneous claims from the fish farm industry that it somehow “proves” open net salmon farms aren’t adversely impacting wild salmon; if anything, it has raised more questions than it has answered. On this sunny September day, however, these amazing sockeye were a welcome sight and reminder of what healthy wild salmon runs mean to the communities, cultures, and economies of the entire BC coast and province – and of why we should be doing everything in our power to give these fish a fighting chance.
Opposed to a gravel mine
Story by Global TV for BC. A small group is rallying against an existing gravel mine in the Fraser Valley. View story
Oil in Eden: The Battle to Protect Canada’s Pacific Coast
Watch this new 16 minute documentary – produced by Damien Gillis for Pacific Wild – on the battle to stop the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands, and the associated oil supertankers that would gravely threaten BC’s spectacular coast.
Oil in Eden: The Battle to Protect Canada’s Pacific Coast from Pacific Wild on Vimeo.
It’s one of the last bastions of Canadian wilderness: the Great Bear Rainforest, on BC’s north and central Pacific coast. Home to bountiful marine mammals, fish, and wildlife – from orca and humpback whales to wild salmon, wolves, grizzlies, and the legendary spirit bear – this spectacular place is now threatened by a proposal to bring an oil pipeline and supertankers to this fragile and rugged coast.
The plan is to pump over half a million barrels a day of unrefined bitumen from the Alberta Tar Sands over the Rockies, through the heartland of BC – crossing a thousand rivers and streams in the process – to the Port of Kitimat, in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. From there, supertankers would ply the rough and dangerous waters of the BC coast en route to Asia and the United States. Dubbed the Northern Gateway Pipeline, the project is of concern for three main reasons: 1. It would facilitate the expansion of the Tar Sands, hooking emerging Asian economies on the world’s dirtiest oil; 2. the risks from the pipeline itself; 3. the danger of introducing oil supertankers for the first time to this part of the BC coast.
Now a growing coalition of First Nations, conservation groups, and concerned citizens from Canada and around the world is banding together to say no the Enbridge project, in what is shaping up to be the defining Canadian environmental battle of our time. Produced by Canadian filmmaker Damien Gillis for Pacific Wild, This 16 minute short documentary – featuring stunning images from the Great Bear Rainforest – provides a summary of the key issues involved in this battle over the pipeline, tankers, and Canada’s Pacific coast.
Please forward this video to your friends and colleagues – and go to PacificWild.org and PipeUpAgainstEnbridge.ca to take action today to help protect BC from Enbridge’s proposal.
Betty & Harriet – Heroic Grandmothers Treated as Criminals and Rapists by Campbell Government
She’s been called a hero, a troublemaker, and the grandmother of BC’s environmental movement – but now a new label is being applied to 82-year old Betty Krawczyk by Provincial Crown Counsel, as she appeals the 10-month sentence she served several years ago for protesting the desecration of a unique ecosystem in West Vancouver: that of a dangerous criminal, on par with men who rape their own children. In response to her appeal, they want to lock this great grandmother up for the rest for her life, as a “chronic offender” who is a “danger to the community.” It’s so shocking – so offends every fibre of one’s basic sense of human decency – as to be almost unbelievable…Almost. Remember, this is the Campbell Government we’re talking about here.
This Wednesday morning, on the steps of the BC Supreme Court House in Vancouver, citizens gathered to listen to Betty discuss the court hearing she was about to attend, and to honour the memory of her fallen comrade, Squamish First Nation elder Harriet Nahanee. Four years ago the pair were jailed for their roles in legally protesting the destruction of Eagleridge Bluffs for a portion of the Sea to Sky Highway build-out (the construction company, Peter Kiewett and Sons, obtained an injunction from the courts against dozens of protestors – they were arrested not for breaking any law, but for violating that injunction). Betty went on to spend 10 months in prison – adding to some 3 years of jail time for similar acts of environmental protest in BC over the past couple decades – while Harriet, after being incarcerated against her doctor’s strong recommendation, died of pneumonia two weeks later at St. Paul’s Hospital, having been denied proper medical care in jail. Whether Harriet was murdered by our justice system and government is really just a question of degree.
Wednesday’s event featured an emotional testament to Harriet’s life and work by former colleague Laura Holland and rousing statements of support for Betty from Rafe Mair, Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler, Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada, Adriane Carr, and the attorney who has often represented Betty in her legal travails, Cameron Ward. In court, Crown Counsel was expected to argue that Betty should be incarcerated for the remainder of her life as a “danger to the community.” The precedents the Crown cited in its pre-trial submissions involved two cases of men who raped their own children. This for the woman who was named by the Royal BC Museum as one of the 100 greatest British Columbians in the province’s first 100 years.
After hearing Betty’s arguments, the three-judge appeal panel adjourned with “judgement reserved”, meaning they will deliberate so more before reporting their verdict.
Story by Rafe Mair: Campbell’s Injustice Toward Betty Krawczyk a Catalyst for BC Environmental Movement
Enbridge Pipeline – ILCP Focus on Great Bear Rainforest
Five minute highlight video on the recent Vancouver events held to showcase the work of the International League of Conservation photographers in the Great Bear Rainforest. Some of the world’s top nature photographers journeyed this month to the north an and central coast of Canada to capture its incomparable yet fragile beauty – now threatened by a proposal from Enbridge to bring an oil pipeline from the Tar Sands and supertankers to BC’s wild coast.