A horde of "zombies" plans to bust a move or two to Michael Jackson's legendary "Thriller" in Vancouver to protest a new fracked gas pipeline.
Dogwood, a B.C. grassroots climate activist and social justice group, has organized a "zombie-themed demonstration" for Sunday, March 12, calling on B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman to reject an emergency order that would extend the certificate for Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission project.
The demonstrators will gather at Heyman’s constituency office, located at 642 W Broadway, at 2:45 p.m. for a tongue-in-cheek protest that includes a "Thriller" dance and a pack of zombified activists.
Dogwood spokesperson Alexandra Woodsworth says the group will convene ahead of the protest to get their grey and gooey "full makeup" on before hitting the streets for the demonstration.
The protestors will march up the sidewalk along Broadway carrying a faux, paper mache pipeline and may divide into two groups -- the Enbridge lobbyists and the concerned B.C. citizens -- to have a tug-of-war, she told V.I.A.
Not only will the pipeline be the largest in the province, but if the extension is approved it would also "export more fossil gas every day than B.C. can currently produce," according to Dogwood.
"Advocates concerned about climate impacts and lack of consultation with Indigenous communities are calling on Heyman not to resurrect this zombie project, and let the permit expire," states a Dogwood press release.
First approved in 2014, the pipeline's permit is slated to expire in 2024 under B.C. laws. And while it has been stalled for over a decade, Enbridge has asked for an extension until 2029 to complete the project.
"The pipeline has been dead for years -- that's the zombie connection," Woodsorth said.
Pipeline projects may only have one extension under B.C. law, and since this project already had one, Enbridge would have to re-submit the proposal from the beginning.
