Former Harper adviser blasts Keystone XL support

A former Harper government appointee used a keynote speech at a Washington event on Monday to trample Canadian authorities' message on oil pipelines while describing the country as an environmental "rogue state."

Mark Jaccard was one of the first people nominated by the Conservatives to the environmental file, when he was named in 2006 to the federal government's now-defunct National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

SFU professor willing to be arrested to make greenhouse gas statement

METRO VANCOUVER -- A Simon Fraser University professor with a long and distinguished academic career said Thursday he is tired of political inaction on greenhouse gases and is prepared to be arrested in an act of civil disobedience scheduled for this weekend on the White Rock waterfront.

Mark Jaccard, a 57-year-old professor of sustainable energy, said in an interview he plans to participate in a protest Saturday near the White Rock pier, stopping Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) trains from delivering U.S. coal into B.C. for export.

He said he is fully prepared to get arrested for trespassing onto railway property, but stressed his actions would be peaceful and non-violent.

"I feel absolutely sick to volunteer for something like this," he said in an interview. "It is not how I see myself."

Jaccard, who joined SFU in 1987, said his expertise is designing computer models that show how policies can be implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, be it through a carbon tax, regulations, or subsidies.