The Georgia Straight have indicated that they will publish a letter to help us speak up in support for those facing legal proceedings this week against the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain oil pipeline on Burnaby Mountain. If you are an SFU student, or member of the wider community, sign your name here to support their right to free speech and peaceful protest on public land:

To the Editor:

A group of dedicated land defenders have been protecting Burnaby Mountain, on unceded Coast Salish territories, against the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain oil pipeline. Now Kinder Morgan has served these land defenders with a $5.6 million dollar lawsuit. This open letter to the public has been initiated by students and alumni of Simon Fraser University. We want to express our support for the courageous efforts of the protestors on Burnaby Mountain, and to condemn the bullying tactics of a wealthy Texas-based oil company who are trying to silence opposition to the pipeline expansion.

These protestors, including two SFU faculty, Dr Stephen Collis and Dr Lynne Quarmby, are exercising their rights to free speech on public land. Yet Trans Mountain, the subsidiary of the energy company Kinder Morgan, is seeking an injunction to halt protests on Burnaby Mountain against its surveying work for the Trans Mountain Pipeline. In addition, Trans Mountain have named five individuals, including Dr Collis and Dr Quarmby, in a lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages for lost revenues.

We, the undersigned, are publicly declaring our support for Professor Collis, Professor Quarmby, and all the protestors, to exercise their rights to protest peacefully and to gather on public land. The lawsuit, as well as the injunction that Trans Mountain is seeking to prevent further protest, contradicts the spirit of open public discussion and engagement that we as SFU students, along with our friends near and far, are speaking out to defend against corporate interests.

Signed: