Don't sympathize with lawlessness...even if you agree with their cause.

For those who express sympathy or support for those arrested in New Brunswick for breaking the law, or those breaking the law and not getting caught, in the name of stopping shale gas development, I provide another perspective that may change your sympathies.   

To my knowledge, SWN (the oil company currently doing the majority of the exploration in NB) is doing all of its work to the letter of the law and regulations set out by the province of New Brunswick. If anyone is damaging their equipment, blocking roads or otherwise impeding their lawful business in New Brunswick, they should be arrested and prosecuted to the letter of the same laws that governs SWN's business in New Brunswick.

You may argue that the regulations or laws governing SWN's operation in the province are ill-conceived or perhaps the process at arriving at these regulations was illegitimate. But I submit that disagreeing with the law, or the process around creating the law or regulation, is not grounds to break said law, or break other laws.

Let's look at it through a different lens; when development of the Corbett Center shopping area in the City of Fredericton was proposed, there was a segment of the population that felt this was not a legitimate use of this land, and the process by which it was approved was flawed. Did this belief mean that these citizens should be allowed to damage these stores, or block supply routes to these stores without being prosecuted? If someone vandalized the Costco store because they were morally opposed to "big box" retailers, would you be sympathetic to the vandalizer? Likely not...so why is SWN held to a higher standard than Costco, or Home Depot?

If you don't feel that shale gas development should move forward, or you feel the process of regulating the industry is flawed, don't take it out on law abiding businesses; take it out on the government. March on public property; set up pickets outside government offices, do whatever peaceful protest you want, but if you prevent a company from doing its law abiding business, you should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law; just as SWN will be if they break any of the laws or regulations of this province. 

Ignoring or devaluing any law is a slippery slope...vigilantism might make for a fun movie plot, but you don't want it in your town.