Kinder-Morgan protesters unapologetic about taking their 11-year-old children across police line
Burnaby parents support their children's acts of civil disobedience
Protesters Kim Fink and Peter Cech had their daughters with them when they joined hundreds of other protesters on Burnaby Mountain in opposition to Kinder Morgan's pipeline expansion project.
Fink's daughter Kate and Cech's daughter Naomi were two of the demonstrators who violated a court order by crossing the police line on November 23rd.
In an interview with The Province newspaper, B.C. Premier Christy Clark criticized the children's parents.
"Teaching your kids that it's OK for them to break the law when they're 11-years-old isn't OK. I think we all as parents would ask ourselves, 'What kind of message are we sending to our kids?'" Clark said.
In an interview with Stephen Quinn for the CBC Radio program On The Coast both parents said it was their children's' decision to be part of the protest and they supported that decision.
Fink and Cech said they explained the consequences of civil disobedience to their daughters.
"Sometimes when you take a stand it means breaking an unjust law," Fink said she told her daughter.
In his response to the premier's comments, Cech said his support for his daughter is about the rights to protest.
"I truly believe if we've had over a hundred thousand Canadians sacrifice their lives so that we have the right to protest and to say 'I don't think this is right' I couldn't say no to her," he said.