Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Sunday, December 08, 2013

$4M spent on policing shale gas protests was necessary: N.B. finance minister

FREDERICTON – New Brunswick’s finance minister says is unfortunate the province has had to spend an additional $4 million on policing to deal with protests against shale gas exploration.

However, Blaine Higgs says the provincial government has to step in when there is unlawful activity.

An anti-shale gas protest near Rexton turned violent in October when police enforced an injunction to halt the blockade of a equipment compound.

Forty people were arrested and six police vehicles burned.

The protesters say their blockade was peaceful until police showed up.

Public Safety Minister Bruce Northrup is defending the police action, saying officers discovered weapons among the protesters.

The exploration company, SWN Resources, has since been granted another injunction that provides a buffer zone around its equipment.

Original Article
Source: globalnews.ca
Author:  Staff  The Canadian Press 

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