HCBP Occupation August 13 Press Conference, Part 2

www.hcbpoccupation.wordpress.com

On July 27, 60 people took over the construction site for the Hanlon Creek Business Park (HCBP) in Guelph, Ontario. This occupation led to a court battle where the City filed an injunction and a $5 million lawsuit against 7 individuals, leading the occupiers to file a counter-injunction forcing the City to stop work. Both injunctions were granted, and this press conference is on the last full day of the occupation, August 13. Because so much media attention focused on the crux of the legal argument, the Jefferson Salamander, this press conference was organized to give the wider public a broader understanding of why people took this action.

Outlined in the press conference is the relationship between non-Native and Native people and our responsibilities to the land, the City's shady relationship with the Ministry of Natural Resources, the larger context of climate change, and inspiration from similar land struggles around the Great Lakes area.

The HCBP is a proposed 675-acre industrial park that has been hotly contested for years. Opposition has significantly increased in the last year, due to numerous ecological and social reasons. When people took to the land, it was after every other 'democratic' and legal process had been exhausted. The occupation attracted an amazing amount of widespread support from people who are tired of politics and business-as-usual.

People lived collectively on the land for 18 days, creating a temporary autonomous space complete with a kitchen, compost toilet, strawbale structure, and many other facets of living light on the land. During this time, people were going door-to-door talking with folks, organizing demonstrations, tabling downtown, at the farmer's market, and at other events, organizing a legal defense, creating media, and learning about and connecting intimately with the land around them.

The land is vital for many reasons, including:
* the presence of and Old Growth Forest with trees up to 500-600 years old,
* a headwater tributary of the Hanlon Creek, which feeds into the Speed and Grand Rivers,
* habitat for numerous animals, including 112 species of birds, 16 species of mammals, and 20 species of reptiles and amphibians, including Federally and Provincially protected species like the Jefferson Salamander and the Western Chorus Frog,
* Provincially Significant Wetlands, and
* the Paris-Galt Moraine, which is an extremely important groundwater recharge zone.

Beyond that, the social reasons for opposition are lengthy as well; there have been so many amazing people involved in opposing the HCBP that it would be impossible to list all the reasons why. People are tired of Southern Ontario being turned into an industrial wasteland, rationalized as 'economic development.' People are tired of the greenwashing and spin from Guelph's City hall, that tries to come across as a 'green' city, while wanting to attract biotechnology as well as heavy industry. People are tired of the earth being treated as a 'resource' instead of a sacred home that deserves respect.

All in all, this story is far from over. For more information please visit www.hcbpoccupation.wordpress.com, and/or email hcbpoccupation@gmail.com.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• HCBP
• Hanlon Creek
• Guelph
• occupation
• protest
• environment
• direct action
• development
• industrial park
• Hanlon Creek Old Growth
• Old Growth Forest
• Paris-Galt Morraine
• Jefferson Salamander
• Western Chorus Frog
• Blue Heron
• Land Defenders
• Wetlands
• City of Guelph
• Guelph Mercury
• environmentalism
• Anarchist
• Anarchism
• Development
• Sprawl
• Progress