Exercise #4: Documentary Reflection

April 21, 2026 By: AN CHEN

On March 27, 2026, CityNews reported that residents near Stoney Creek in Coquitlam saw a mysterious white foam spilling into the water. The City got a spill report on March 24, but nobody seemed sure what it was or if it was hurting fish. Honestly, this made me frustrated. It is 2026 and we still have mystery spills in salmon creeks. My position is that the city should have faster testing and public alerts so people know if their local creek is safe. The documentary Fairy Creek in 2024, showed me that civil disobedience is often what works when polite requests fail. Over 1,100 people were arrested blockading logging roads on Vancouver Island. They tried letters and meetings first. When that did not stop the chainsaws, they sat in the roads. The protests did not save every tree, but they forced the BC government to protect 350,000 hectares of old growth for two years. That is way more than being polite would have gotten. Protesters have used civil disobedience against the Trans Mountain pipeline near Burnaby and Coquitlam. In November 2020, they blocked a rail line used to transport oil. In January 2025, activists crashed Burnaby City Council in inflatable dinosaur costumes to call out a “sweetheart deal” with Trans Mountain. These actions range from serious to silly, but they all make it hard for officials to ignore opposition.The Fairy Creek protests didn’t stop all logging, but they changed the conversation. The pipeline protests have not stopped the pipeline, but they keep the pressure on. Civil disobedience shifts what people think is normal and forces politicians to pay attention. The Stoney Creek foam spill is a small reminder that environmental harm happens quietly. Civil disobedience makes sure it does not stay quiet.