Celebrities in Solidarity with Anti-Fracking Protesters in New Brunswick

Rexton, NBThe last week of anti-fracking protests in New Brunswick has garnered support, strength and solidarity not only throughout Canada and the US but also from celebrities such as Susan Sarandon and the Idle No More movement.They are supporting The Elsipogtog Mi’kmaq First Nation and local residents who claim a Texas oil and gas company plans on fracking their land.

Since September 30, the Elsipogtog Mi’kmaq First Nation and local residents barricaded a road near the rural town of Rexton to block shale gas exploration by SWN Resources Canada, a subsidiary of the Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co, that does not have the community's consent or consultation to extract shale gas from the area using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Solidarity demonstrations took place in Washington, DC and New York in front of the Canadian consulates. The CBC News reported on Friday that members and sympathizers of the the Idle No More movement based in Washington, D.C., intended to gather in Columbus Circle to show their support for the Elsipogtog First Nation.

“I stand with the Elsipogtog First Nation as they defend their water and land from Fracking,” said Sarandon on her Facebook page. Actor and activist Daryl Hannah tweeted “These are the brave women fighting #shalegas facing the RCMP - This is Canada.”

The past week has seen the Royal Canadian Mounted Police face-off with First Nations protesters and they went so far as to "rough up" First Nations elders, including the chief of the Mi’kmaq tribe who was “manhandled”, according to a Canada.com reporter. In retaliation demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at police vehicles when they attempted to break up the protest. The RCMP, dressed in camouflage and carried rifles and tear gas, and brought police dogs to the site. The RCMP also carried a court injunction against the protest and arrested 40 people.

More than 100 celebrity spokespeople such as Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Robert Redford, Mark Ruffalo, Alec Baldwin and Mario Batali are involved in the anti-fracking movement. The anti-fracking campaign gained momentum last summer when Ono and her Sean Lennon, whose family farm is located near gas reserves in New York and are concerned that fracking will soon be in their area, founded Artists Against Fracking ."Fracking kills. And it doesn't just kill us, it kills the land, nature and eventually the whole world,” said Ono at a news conference (Huffington Post, October 20, 2013).

Indigenous Human Rights Activist Ellen Gabriel speaks in this video about the situation facing the Mi’kmaq Nation in Elsipogtog, New Brunswick and overuse of force by the RCMP. Meanwhile the New Brunswick fracking protests have led to more than a dozen demonstrations across Canada.