Donation of Prize Money by Canadian Activist Spurs Flood of Dollars to Tar Sands Fight

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, recipient of a prestigious Canadian literary prize, announced this week he is donating the $25,000 award to a grassroots coalition against TransCanada Corporation’s “Energy East” pipeline.

His challenge to people across Canada and the world to double his contribution to the group Coule Pas Chez Nous (Don’t Let it Flow in Our Backyard) has resulted in a flood of donations totaling at least $326,000 (in Canadian currency), with more money continuing to pour in.

Nadeau-Dobois achieved a high profile as an organizer of Quebec’s “Maple Spring” student movement in 2012. In October of this year, he took part in a large protest in the town of Cacouna, Quebec against TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline, which would be the largest tar sands pipeline yet, aimed at transporting the oil across the country to terminals in Quebec and New Bruswick.

The proposed pipeline has faced broad opposition from Indigenous peoples and other communities along its route.