Coldwater Indian Band holds protest outside pipeline hearing

May 10, 2018 | 4:53 PM

MERRITT, B.C. — Members of the Coldwater Indian Band organized a protest outside the Merritt Civic Centre Thursday, where the National Energy Board was holding hearings on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. 

While twenty Coldwater Indian Band members attended the detailed route hearing inside, a group of protesters gathered with signs and banners, calling for the protection of the Coldwater River. 

“The water actually flows underneath the entire Coldwater Valley where our community is, that’s where the aquifer is, underneath us,” said protest organizer Deloris Charters. “If that pipeline is anywhere in our valley it’s going to ruin our water. What are we going to do as Coldwater people? Where are we going to go? Where are the animals going to go?”