Miles Howe returns to Fredericton to share shale gas resistance story

Miles Howe, author of Debriefing Elsipogtog – The Anatomy of a Struggle and editor of the Halifax Media Co-op, returned to Fredericton on Sept. 28 to give a lecture at the UNB Law School, titled “Reflections on Shale Gas Resistance in New Brunswick.” The talk was organized by Law School professor, Dr. Nicole O’Byrne, who is a specialist on Indigenous law.

About 25 people crowded into the room to hear Howe discuss the intricacies of the issue at hand. For those who had read Howe’s book and the participants in the struggle, the seemingly incredible tale he reveals is no surprise. Other participants asked Howe for clarifications on his investigative work.

The event lasted over two hours and included a brief contextual screening of a Fault Lines video by Wab Kinew, produced by Al Jazeera America, about shale gas resistance in Elsipogtog.

Howe has just returned from a promotional book tour in Ontario and Québec. The author and journalist launched his book in Fredericton on June 1, 2015, at an event sponsored by the NB Media Co-op and Fernwood Publishing, Howe’s editorial house. The book was launched in New Brunswick’s capital with some of the participants in the struggle present, including Elsipogtog land defender Annie Clair.

A testimony to the book’s significance, Howe’s detailed investigative study is now being used by Dr. O’Byrne’s students in her Aboriginal law class as a textbook and required reading.

Sophie M. Lavoie writes on arts and culture for the NB Media Co-op.