Tag Archives: pipeline

Stories from the End of the Line

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What does it mean to live at the end of the largest proposed tar sands pipeline in North America?

I recently spent some time trying to answer this question. I visited Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada and spoke with several people about the proposed Energy East pipeline. I heard from residents, First Nations, and fishermen that would be impacted by this mega project.

With the cancellation of the deep sea port connection in Cacouna, Quebec, many are starting to ask one simple question. If threats to the St. Lawrence, organized citizen action, and an endangered Beluga whale can stop a deep sea terminal, why can’t the same happen in the Bay of Fundy? Tens of thousands of jobs in tourism and fisheries are supported by the Bay and it is home to the critically endangered Right Whale. The people of Saint John have been in the shadow of fossil fuel development for decades with little to show economically. Is enough enough?

The following are three stories from three different individuals in New Brunswick.

 

Published: Energy East Photography in Photo Life

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The Dec/Jan issue of Photo Life Magazine features the Along the Pipeline project. Along the Pipeline is a portrait project that documents the people and communities along TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline route.

It is great to see this article in Canada’s top photo magazine. It is important that this story reaches different audiences and I am thrilled with the job that the publishers did with the project. If you are in Canada go and pick up a copy from your local magazine store.

energy east photography

Along the Pipeline – A portrait project along the Energy East pipeline route published in Photo Life Magazine.

Energy East Multimedia – Along the Pipeline

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The following five multimedia pieces were completed for my Along the Pipeline project focusing on the proposed Energy East pipeline. They include Nora Gould, a mother, poet and rancher (in that order) from Alberta, Henry Harris, a fisherman on the Bay of Fundy and Ryan Theriault, owner of Tranquil Acres. Also included are Crystal Greene, an Anishinaabe Activist and Serge Simon, the chief of the Kanesatake Mohawk.

All five individuals are concerned about the potential impact that the Energy East pipeline could have on their communities and livelihood.

Along the Pipeline – Energy East Photography Project Published in Ricochet

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Bob Smoker

I am very pleased to announce that Along the Pipeline, my photography portrait series on TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline has now been published in Ricochet. Ricochet is the new national online media outlet in Canada and I am very excited to partner with them for this publication. They have done an exceptional job of highlighting the 24 select images, the captions and audio files. Please visit their sites to see the stories.

Part One – Published last week
Part Two – Published this week

There is more exciting things coming from this project, including publishing in two different art magazines and gallery openings in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for more.

Defend Our Climate – Toronto Rally

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I am currently on my trip west across Canada to Alberta to begin the main leg of the Along the Pipeline project. Along the way I was lucky enough to find myself in Toronto during the Defend our Climate rally. Around 1500 people came out in Toronto today to take part in the rally. The rally was part of a national day of action drawing attention to pipelines, tar sands, climate change and other resource extraction that is exacerbating climate change, affecting First Nations and leading Canada towards a Petrostate future.

Led by First Nations, many different faces, nationalities and ages joined in the march, it was an amazing day in sunny Toronto.

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Energy East Open House – SansTransCanada and SaveCanada steal the show.

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This evening TransCanada held their one and only open house in the vast city of Montreal. The open house was situated in the middle of nowhere in the east industrial area and almost everyone visiting got lost. Surprisingly, for a massive infrastructure project there were few ‘regular’ citizens to be seen. In fact there were more blue shirts in the room all night than ‘regular’ citizens.

But that statement doesn’t tell the whole story. It was clear that the majority of those blue shirts and regular citizens were actually concerned citizens. Save-Canada.com  has been attending these events, dressed in almost exactly the same fatigue as the TransCanada representatives and handing out more information about how this pipeline will impact Canadians and the world.  It seems that the TransCanada people don’t know what to do with them. Throughout the evening Save Canada, and SansTransCanada, their Quebec counterpart, engaged with citizens and even played a little game of ‘pin the spill on the pipeline’.

From my perspective it looks like TransCanada has a long uphill battle ahead. There are a lot of concerned citizens, few actual jobs and they are building an export pipeline. If you are looking for some more information here is one source. The visual story is below.

 


Save Canada – Trans Canada – Images by Robert van Waarden