The power of the domino effect
Dave Secco.
Just six months ago, the battle to protect B.C.’s coast and rivers from oil spills wasn’t really on the radar of Victoria entrepreneur Dave Secco.
But that changed in an instant when Secco, a former University of Victoria soccer player and professional soccer coach, saw On the Line, a documentary that follows two men on a 2,400 kilometre journey by foot, bike, raft and kayak as they seek to uncover the truth about Enbridge’s proposed pipeline across B.C.
“It was so visceral. I was numb,” Secco says.
It didn’t take long for his competitive side to kick in. Secco teamed up with his friend Glenn Milbury to host house parties showing On the Line to friends and family. “By the third time, we said: ‘Let’s go bigger,’ Secco says.
The pair lined up the Fairfield Community Hall and held two screenings in June, which attracted nearly 125 people and raised $215 for Dogwood Initiative’s No Tankers campaign.
“A lot of people were so grateful to have their eyes opened and couldn’t wait to go out and act upon it,” Secco says. He’s making it easy for them by providing an action plan via e-mail each week — including further actions such as signing the No Tankers petition or hosting a film screening.
So far, several more people have hosted their own film screenings. “I get reports on a daily basis of how the domino effect is working,” Secco says, noting people all over Vancouver Island have become involved.
For Secco, it’s about more than just the risk of oil spills on our coast. “I’m pragmatic. I know we’re going to need to use some bitumen for the next little while,” Secco says. “But we should be using it in a manner that’s really beneficial to Canada, instead of what we’re doing, which is basically selling the farm. We should stop importing oil in eastern Canada; we should have a national energy plan; we should have a goal to get off of fossil fuels.”
- If you’d like to take further action to protect B.C.’s coast in your community, check out the Find Allies kit.
Thanks for the effort Dave!