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Updated: Dakota pipeline opponents to shut down Paris intersection today

Hour-long demonstration aimed at raising awareness about drinking water rights
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Organizers of a protest today that could shut down the intersection of Paris Street and Ramsey Lake Road at noon say they were inspired by the call to action from 12-year-old Autumn Peltier (centre) of Wikwemikong. Screen capture: YouTube.com/Onaman Collective

Updated at 11:10 a.m.: Greater Sudbury Police have confirmed a demonstration planned for noon today at the intersection of Paris Street and Ramsey Lake Road is expected to disrupt traffic.

The D-5 Shut It Down Water Is Life event will not be an hour long as stated by the group. The GSPS reports the demonstration, which will feature a round dance in the middle of the intersection, will close the intersection to all but emergency vehicles from noon until 12:30 p.m.

Motorists are encouraged to avoid the area, the police said in a news release this morning.

Original story

Inspired by a callout from a 12-year-old Wikwemikong girl, demonstrators are expected to shut down the intersection of Paris Street and Ramsey Lake Road today at noon for an hour to raise awareness about drinking water rights.

Activist Bruce McComber put out the call to action this past weekend, calling for likeminded people to join them in solidarity with the Standing Rock protesters and their opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The protest comes on the heels of an announcement Sunday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not allow the $3.8-billion pipeline to be built beneath Lake Oahe, a reservoir on the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The hundreds of protesters at the site, who have faced stiff opposition from police in the area, called the announcement a victory.

Sudbury.com has reached out to the protest organizers to see if today’s event is still proceeding in the wake of Sunday’s news.

On the Facebook page for today’s D5 Shut It Down Water Is Life demonstration, organizers say they were inspired by both the Standing Rock demonstrators and by Autumn Peltier, a 12-year-old activist from Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island.

“This is a notification that on Monday December 5th, 2016 the call to action by Autumn Peltier will be picked up locally by myself and a coalition of other community organizers, students, and just other people who are concerned about the Standing Rock protectors and defenders,” the page information states.

“We will be shutting down the intersection at Paris and Ramsey Lake Road for an hour on Monday at noon with only emergency vehicles allowed through! It is potentially only a half hour depending on GSPS AND OPP response.”

Autumn Peltier is a young advocate for drinking water rights. Her advocacy work was featured in the October issue of Canadian Living Magazine, in which it was announced she earned a Me To We Youth in Action award from the magazine.

Autumn posted a video to YouTube at the end of November calling on people across the world to shut down intersections on Dec. 5 to show everyone how important it is to protect drinking water and how no one should have to fight to protect it as, she says, the Standing Rock protesters are doing.

You can watch Autumn’s video here:
A call to the Greater Sudbury Police for additional information on whether today’s protest is going ahead was not immediately returned. Sudbury.com will update the story should new information become available. 

Look for additional coverage early this afternoon should the protest go ahead.


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