This Sunday, songstress Sarah Harmer will headline a concert that also features a mess of killer talent, including Gord Downie and The Sadies, Hayden and Minotaurs.
It gets underway at 2 p.m. at Mel Lastman Square in North York. It’s quite the lineup. And, it’s free. But there is an ideological catch. This concert has been organized by Environmental Defence to protest the reversal of the Enbridge Line 9 pipeline that runs across Toronto just minutes north of the concert venue.
Yes, this particular concert will “Rock the Line.” So why should we care about changing the flow direction on a pipeline that has existed, relatively peacefully, for almost four decades? We tracked down Harmer to provide us with a little clarity.
When did you first hear of this pipeline issue?
Line 9 actually goes right through my parents’ farm in burlington, and so I guess I found out probably over a year ago at least, maybe year and a half, that this proposal was in the wings.
And why should we care?
This pipeline goes right next to millions and millions of people, their drinking supply, their watershed. This will be high-pressure tar sands pumped through a 40-year-old dilapidated pipeline. It’s a bad idea that needs to be rejected. And most people don’t know about it.
And what are you hoping to accomplish with this concert?
I think we’re hoping to accomplish letting people know about what's at stake, letting people know about the proposal, what the risks are and what people can do to call on the province to do an environmental assessment. And it’s also a great day of music, local food and community building.
So no one is actually building anything new right?
No, the pipeline is 38 years old. The plan is to pump diluted bitumen, heavy crude cut with chemicals. They also want to increase the capacity.
Has the pipeline ever leaked?
Apparently it has, something like 12 incidents on the pipeline. And Enbridge, over the last 10 years, has had approximately 800 spills in their pipeline infrastructure. There was a huge spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2010 from a pipeline of a similar vintage as Line 9 with the same proposed tar sands. It is still not cleaned up and so far it has cost $1 billion.
It doesn’t seem like something we have a say in here in Toronto. Does it?
We should get a big say. This is the most populated area in the country. What everyone can do is tell the province. Insist on a full environmental assessment. It is as simple as making a phone call, sending an email or signing a petition at www.rocktheline.ca.
How bad would it be that I drive there?
Well, I’m going to drive there. I live in the country. We all have different degrees of hypocrisy in our lives. We just need to tighten up walking our talk. Try to just do better.
What if I just want to go and hear some good tunes?
That’s awesome. It’s a free show, the bands are donating their time. Come and rock out.
What is your favourite protest song?
“We Shall Overcome.”
Rock the Line, Mel Lastman Square, Oct. 6
