Oil pipeline to Kitimat prompts flagpole climb

CHEK News, 20-Dec-2009

Environmental protester Ingmar Lee was arrested by Victoria police yesterday morning after scaling the flagpole at the B.C. legislature in full climbing gear.

Firefighters, police and ambulance were on the scene as Lee, who is known for his tree sit-ins at Langford's Spencer Road interchange and Cathedral Grove, climbed the pole and tried unsuccessfully to unfurl a banner protesting a proposed pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to Kitimat.

"He was up there about 30 minutes and was trying to come down by himself but couldn't make it all the way down," said Staff Sgt. Darren Laur. "It was so cold, we had to bring him down in a fire basket."
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Lee has been charged with mischief, said Laur. He was released on a promise to appear in court at a later date.

After he was released, Lee insisted he hadn't been rescued and wasn't cold, just happy to accept a ride in the fire bucket.

Lee, who lives on B.C.'s central coast, said he was protesting the fact that Premier Gordon Campbell is championing the construction of a 1,100-kilometre pipeline to Kitimat, where oil would be loaded onto supertankers.

"Campbell has been getting quite a bit of green press recently, but that doesn't square with someone who wants to build a pipeline to deliver half of daily tarsands production to the B.C. coast," said Lee.

ldickson@tc.canwest.com

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