Do I trust the RCMP? No. They do not heed the rule of law. Instead of investigating Encana’s law violations, they invaded my private property to serve Encana (now Ovintiv), law-violating AER and law-violating Alberta gov’t, and cowardly tried to intimidate me silent.
Do I trust our regulators when it comes to the oil & gas industry? No. The AER too tried to intimidate me silent, nastily, and violated my Charter rights doing so, instead of heeding the rule of law and regulating Encana.
Do I trust our courts when it comes to oil & gas industry? No. They are the worst (or from industry’s perspective, the best) at not heeding the rule of law when it comes to the oil and gas industry harming us and our environment in Canada.
Do I trust our politicians when it comes to the oil & gas industry? No. In Canada, they are industry’s handmaidens. Show me one that isn’t.
MUST LISTEN INTERVIEW! Molly Wickham: Gidim’ten Yintah Access Update, 38 Min.
RCMP are Mobilizing Officers to Houston and Intensifying Harassment of Camps
While a week of talks have been declared between Hereditary Chiefs and the the Province where the RCMP has stated they will “stand down”, local community halls have been filled with officers in the same way they did last year before the raid that took place on January 9th.
This development is deeply concerning and comes at the same time that RCMP are stepping up their harassment of the camps at 27 and 39, despite having formal complaints filed against them on Friday.
Helicopter and airplane surveillance from the RCMP and private security has also intensified while local companies have refused to fly for the Wet’suwet’en after being warned by the RCMP.
The fact that the Province is mobilizing militarized police while opening “De-escalation talks” is a clear intimidation tactic and speaks to their integrity. Please continue to let Horgan and your MPs know how you feel about their decisions.
Call Horgan:
1-250-387-1715
premier@gov.bc.ca
BE READY TO MOBILIZE
Given that there are hundreds of downed trees between the camps at 39 and 44 it is very unlikely the RCMP have the capacity to raid multiple camps in one day. The response to an initial attempt at moving on the camps is crucial.
The government must know that carrying out a raid on the Wet’suwet’en will have serious consequences. Consider establishing a meet up point in your city for people to convene on in the event the RCMP attempt to remove Wet’suwet’en from their territory.
MOBILIZATION PLANS
Victoria: If RCMP move in on camps moblise to Centennial square the following day at 8 AM
https://www.facebook.com/events/206313827165150/
Vancouver: Meet at the offices of VANDU 380 E Hastings at 9 AM the day following an attempted raid if it occurs at night, or at 5 PM if one occurs during the day
CALL THE BUSINESSES ENABLING THE RCMP
RCMP are being housed and fed by local community halls and a catering company in Telkwa and Houston. Call in to these companies today and tomorrow to express yourself to the community halls and catering company.
Telkwa Hall: (250) 846 5212
Houston Hall: (250) 845 2238
RECENT ARTICLES
RCMP Confirm Deployment in Buckley Valley for Enforcement of Coastal Gas Link Injunction
Cas Yikh Elder Arrested at 27 km, Wet’suwet’en Access Point on Gidimt’en Territory Feb 2, 2020
The RCMP have promised our Dinï ze’ and Tsakë ze’ they will stand down for 7 days. Nowhere in the injuction does it say they have the right to set up an exclusion zone.
They arrested our Cas Yikh elder and a supporter that was filming the interaction Jan 31/20. They were released on site. Please stay tuned as more RCMP are entering the area and now have reports of police dogs in Houston.
Keep up the pressure. Their illegal behaviour is unacceptable.
For background info and ways to support visit: yintahaccess.com
#WetsuwetenStrong#RCMPstanddown#AllEyesOnWetsuweten#NoTrespass#WedzinKwa#DefendTheYintah#RCMPAreMercenaries#WouldYouShootMeToo#LandDefenders#WaterProtectors#RiseUp#LightYourSacredFires
Poster making to protest authorities violating UNDRIP by BC resident Rosemary Baxter, Feb 1, 2020
It’s the weekend of our film festival and in a corner of the room with the all the NGO tables there was an area set aside for making protest posters!
Why? Because our Premier and his entire cabinet will be here on Monday evening at the Comox Black Fin Pub..and in meetings the next day. We’ve planned a special welcome for them on Monday night.
By the time I got to the table today quite a # of posters were already finished but I wanted to personalize mine… except that it was too small to write the essay of my concerns on it……so I settled for just the ‘TITLES’………they’ll get the message! (Someone said today that this is the most ‘whipped’ government in a long time in BC… not a big surprise to all of us!)
My words. “UNDRIP ?, SITE C, LNG, BC LOGGING CORP. AND THEN…. ‘SHAME’ ON ALL OF YOU” (UNDRIP being the ‘United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’… in almost all of my other ‘TITLES’, they have seriously violated many of the Articles in this declaration which they signed with great ceremony last November)
BC Logging Corp…yes owned by the government and they are going crazy in this province….. cutting down everything in sight… old growth be damned. The stats are showing that BC is cutting faster than the cutting in the Amazon. Scary..considering those trees are the lungs of the earth!
And…UNDRIP? The Guardian has reported on the RCMP using force up in the Wet’suwet’en area because the govt wants to force the gas line through unceded land!!
Photo: Rosemary Baxter making her poster
RCMP denies reports of officers threatening to arrest Wet’suwet’en by Emma McIntosh, January 31st 2020, National Observer
Members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation allege RCMP officers threatened to arrest them Friday, hours after police publicly pledged to stand down amid tension over the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
The RCMP denied the report, saying it has “made significant efforts to document and record all decisions and interactions,” but declining to provide that evidence to National Observer at this time. [Like Supreme Court of Canada’s Justice Rosalie Abella, pull shit out of the air to lie in her ruling in Ernst vs AER that the court had the gall to publish?] The Wet’suwet’en say they have video of their own and are planning to make it public.
“They’ve ramped up their harassment and surveillance and intimidation tactics,” said Molly Wickham, also known as Sleydo, a spokeswoman for the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.
“They’re saying one thing and doing the exact opposite on the ground.”
The hereditary chiefs of the remote northeastern B.C. First Nation, who have not consented to the pipeline running through their unceded territory, agreed Thursday to sit down with provincial officials to try to de-escalate the ongoing conflict.
The discussions — which will be known as “wiggus,” the Wet’suwet’en word for respect — will last seven days, during which time the RCMP said it would not take any action against the Wet’suwet’en.
But before the chiefs agreed to meet with the province, police had been pouring into the area, preparing to enforce a Dec. 31 court injunction to remove Wet’suwet’en from several camps in the territory, the RCMP confirmed Thursday night.
In an interview, Wickham said RCMP officers tried to enter tents and buildings at two camps earlier Friday, something they haven’t done before. [Dirty rotten bullying scoundrels, betraying Canadians to enable rape by multinationals]
“They said if anyone impeded them from doing so, they would be arrested,” she added. “They’re trying to provoke a reaction. They’re trying to be intimidating so people will leave.” [Exactly what AER, RCMP, politicians and Alberta Environment tried to do to Ernst to enable and cover-up Encana’s (now Ovintiv) illegal drinking water fracs]
Wickham said officers weren’t allowed into the tents and buildings, and the officers left without arresting anyone.
In a statement late Friday, RCMP spokeswoman Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said it is “not the case” that officers threatened to arrest anyone. Shoihet said people at one of the camps asked the RCMP to come, and once there, “they talked about RCMP patrols, activities and protocols.”
Wickham said the Wet’suwet’en have been clear the RCMP is not welcome on their territory in any of the camps, and officers were not invited: “People told them that they were violating them and their safety and their privacy and that they were trespassing,” she said. [I told the police they were also trespassing on my private property when they ordered me not to take photos of them trespassing! Imagine their rudeness ordering me not to take photos of them trespassing on the steps of my home that I pay taxes on, not them!]
Shoihet said in an email the RCMP “documented and captured” all interactions with the Wet’suwet’en, and “a review has confirmed (the) same.”
“The RCMP continues to fully support the discussion table referred to by the Wet’suwet’en as ‘wiggus,’” read the statement, which referred to the camps as “obstructions.”
“We have not and will not take action to enforce the B.C. Supreme Court-ordered injunction.” [Liars! Like how they lied to me.]
Shoihet declined to elaborate on how exactly the interaction was recorded, but said the RCMP is “fully prepared to participate in any public complaint process that may arise from our actions.”
Wickham said the Wet’suwet’en took a video of each interaction as well.
“They say they have evidence, but they will never ever show that evidence to anybody,” she said. “We know that they’ll lie about absolutely everything… We know from experience that we have to document every interaction.”
The RCMP previously denied reports it was running surveillance flights over Wet’suwet’en territory — until photo evidence surfaced earlier this month, as first reported by Vice.
“’They expect that people are going to believe them,” Wickham said. [The sad thing is, most ignorant Canadians believe them]
“I hope that the public can see through that because they’ve proven they’re untrustworthy.”
… The Wet’suwet’en meetings with provincial officials come after weeks of requests for a sit-down with B.C. Premier John Horgan. Horgan declined, saying construction of the pipeline would go ahead, but offered to send Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser in his place, an offer the hereditary chiefs declined.
In a press release Thursday, eight hereditary chiefs said they remain dedicated to preserving their culture, territory and traditions.
“The hereditary chiefs maintain their commitment to peace and will pursue all avenues available to achieve a peaceful resolution,” the statement read.
RCMP Aerial Surveillance at Unist’ot’en Camp, Unist’ot’en Camp
RCMP are circling #Unistoten camp more frequently, as are flights from private security. While RCMP say they are “standing down”, they spy on us, harass our Gidimt’en neighbors, and mobilize to invade our unceded #Wetsuweten territories.
Local helicopter companies refuse to fly our people or supplies to the territory, after receiving warnings from the RCMP – but these same companies are permitted to fly here for industry and private security.
There is no justification to deploy these kinds of militarized resources against unarmed Wet’suwet’en people. This triggers PTSD for people at the healing center who have experienced police and military violence.
RCMP have said that they will stand down while our chiefs are in discussions with the Province. Low flying helicopters spying on our camp is a direct contradiction of what police publicly say they are doing.
Supporter toolkit: http://unistoten.camp/supportertoolkit2020/
Legal fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/unistoten2020legalfund
Wet’suwet’en Access Point on Gidimt’en Territory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Gidimt’en Condemn Arrest of Elder at RCMP Checkpoint
Feb 1, 2020 – Houston, (BC) – The Gidimt’en Clan condemns the arrest of a Gidimt’en elder at the RCMP checkpoint at 27km on the Morice Forest Service Road on unceded Gidimt’en territory. Carmen Nikal, 73 years old, has been an adopted member of the Gidim’ten Clan’s Cas Yex house for over four decades.
Late Friday, Carmen Nikal was arrested after refusing to provide identification when travelling as a passenger to Cas Yex territory through the RCMP’s unlawful checkpoint.
She has since been released without charge.
RCMP refused to provide reasons for stopping the vehicle en route to Cas Yex territory, and cited violations of the Motor Vehicle Act. Carmen Nikal was a passenger in the vehicle and therefore was not lawfully required to identify herself to police.
Although the RCMP has stated publicly that they will “stand down” while talks between Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and the Province advance, RCMP continue to conduct daily “patrols” on Gidimt’en territory and to harass and surveil our members and supporters. Police maintain an illegal checkpoint that has arbitrarily limited access to lawyers, media, supplies, and Wet’suwet’en people. RCMP have refused repeated requests from the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs to dismantle the Community Industry Safety Office – a remote detachment built on Gisday’wa house territory without consent.
We are alarmed that as discussions are ongoing to advance peaceful outcomes, a large force of police officers are being deployed from throughout the Province to Wet’suwet’en territory.
Good faith discussions between the Wet’suwet’en and the Province cannot occur while we are under duress, and while our families and guests face the threat of police violence. The Province has yet to consider any alternative to the forceful invasion of our territory and removal of Wet’suwet’en people from our land.
The position of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs remains the same:
– We have not and will not provide free, prior, and informed consent to the CGL pipeline project. We require free, prior, and informed consent for any industrial use of our lands.
– The RCMP must vacate our territories immediately, removing their remote detachment and the unlawful exclusion zone at 27km on the Morice Forest Service Road. RCMP presence has restricted the movement and access of Wet’suwet’en people and our guests to our own territories, infringing on our human and Aboriginal rights.
– The RCMP must stand down and refrain from enforcing the injunction order.
– Nation-to-nation talks must occur with the provincial and federal leaders to address infringements to Wet’suwet’en rights and title.
– The RCMP must not forcibly evict Wet’suwet’en people or our guests from our lands, must not deploy any lethal weapons or force, and must not threaten the apprehension of our children..
We urge the Province to require that police stand down, so that meaningful dialogue can occur to advance peaceful outcomes on our territory, and to ensure the safety of Wet’suwet’en people and guests who currently face the immediate threat of police violence. Today’s arrest highlights the abusive conduct and overbroad interpretation of the injunction order that RCMP are using to criminalize Wet’suwet’en people on our own lands.
We mirror the complaints filed jointly by our Hereditary Chiefs, the BC Civil Liberties Association, and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, who expressed: “We have serious concerns about the overbroad scope as well as inconsistent and arbitrary exercise of RCMP discretion in Wet’suwet’en territories. The RCMP implementation and enforcement of the exclusion zone criminalizes and impedes the movement of Wet’suwet’en people, invited guests of the Wet’suwet’en, media, legal counsel as well as food and medical supplies. RCMP interference with individual liberty is significant, arbitrary, and disproportionate to achieving the stated goal of public safety. Further, the RCMP checkpoint and exclusion zone is in clear violation of constitutionally recognized Anuk‘nu’at’en (Wet’suwet’en law) as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
In this era of reconciliation, and as is required by BC’s own UNDRIP legislation, the Province must respect Wet’suwet’en rights and title on unceded Wet’suwet’en lands.
#wetsuwetenstrong #landback #RCMPStandDown–
Media Contact:
Jen Wickham, Gidimt’en Clan
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Donate to the Gidimt’en checkpoint: https://www.gofundme.com/f/gidimt039en-strong
Ways to support: https://yintahaccess.com
RCMP Harassment at 39KM Checkpoint Wet’suwet’en Access Point on Gidimt’en Territory Press Release by Wet’suwet’en, Jan 31, 2020
Yesterday, RCMP attempted to enter the Gidimt’en supply and monitoring post, attempting to walk in to our camp which is outside of the injunction area. Police have undertaken a daily harassment and surveillance campaign against our supporters, and have even threatened to arrest those monitoring the road. While RCMP have publicly stated they will stand down for 7 days while our Chiefs speak with the Province, they continue to harass and threaten us daily.
Supply wishlist: https://www.yintahaccess.com/wishlist
Donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/gidimt039en-strong
Other ways to support: https://www.yintahaccess.com/take-action-1
B.C. Civil Liberties Association files complaints to RCMP watchdog over blocked delivery for pipeline protesters by Ian Bailey with a report from The Canadian Press, Jan 15, 2020, The Globe and Mail
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has filed complaints with the civilian review commission overseeing the RCMP, alleging two people were blocked in their ability to deliver food and supplies to protesters against a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C.
Harsha Walia, the association’s executive director, said on Wednesday that the BCCLA has received similar complaints beyond the two that prompted the initial submission and may submit further claims to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP.
The BCCLA’s complaints on behalf of Delee Alexis Nikal and Cody Thomas Merriman underlie tensions over the use of exclusion zones prohibiting Wet’suwet’en people, the public and media from accessing the First Nation’s territories.
The BCCLA’s two clients are a Wet’suwet’en woman and a Haida man married to a Wet’suwet’en woman and adopted into the nation, Ms. Walia said.
By preventing them access to the First Nation’s traditional territory, RCMP violated their Indigenous rights and charter-protected rights, she said in an interview.
“An exclusion zone is unprecedented and extreme,” she said.
At issue is protest against a planned 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline, which would run from northeastern B.C. to a liquefied natural gas terminal currently under construction in Kitimat.
The pipeline is required to supply gas to a planned $40-billion LNG Canada project that has been approved by both the provincial and federal government.
While Coastal GasLink has signed deals with the elected representatives of First Nations along the pipeline route, a group led by hereditary leaders of the Wet-suwet’en Nation is seeking to block construction of the pipeline within their traditional territories.
Wet’suwet’en heriditary leaders authorized chopping down about 100 trees earlier this month along a logging road to block contractors from returning to work at a camp there.
On Monday, the RCMP set up a checkpoint to limit access to the logging road, blocked by dozens of fallen trees.
The RCMP said Wednesday it has not created an exclusion zone, areas enacted when police are enforcing civil injunctions.
The B.C. Supreme Court granted Coastal GasLink an injunction Dec. 31 and the order authorizes RCMP to arrest and remove anyone they have reasonable or probable grounds to believe is knowingly contravening the order.
“At this point, we are not enforcing the B.C. Supreme Court injunction to allow time for dialogue between the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, elected councils, Coastal GasLink and government,” the police said in a statement.
“The access control checkpoint is a measured response that reflects the need to prevent further escalation of the situation including the placement of hazards along the roadway and the creation of a third encampment blocking access.”
Supporters of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink project have set up three camps and settlements between the checkpoint and the work site.
In the statement, the Mounties said front-line police were implementing new access procedures after the checkpoint was set up on Monday morning.
Of the three people who were turned away, the RCMP said one would not provide basic details, such as identification and purpose of travel, another faced a shift in weather conditions as nightfall approached and the third person was refused access to transport food and supplies.
The police officer at the checkpoint made arrangements for the supplies to be transported in by a different person, but the individuals decided not to proceed and left the area, the Mounties said.
Horgan’s Pipeline Push Betrays His Reconciliation Promise, First Nations expected a new era; instead the government has embraced colonialism and ignored UNDRIP law by Judith Sayers, Jan 15, 2020, TheTyee.ca
Judith Sayers (Kekinusuqs) is from the Hupacasath First Nation in Port Alberni, B.C. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria in Business and Environmental Studies.
It’s the same old story Indigenous Peoples have heard for generations.
B.C. Premier John Horgan tells the public “the rule of law” demands the Coastal GasLink pipeline go ahead. Permits are in place, and the courts have approved construction.
The opposition of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs is not important to Horgan, as he points to 20 First Nations that have signed agreements to allow the pipeline and negotiated benefits. The five clans who have not agreed don’t seem to count.
Is this a scorecard of how many First Nations say yes compared to those who say no? Is that how we measure rights and title?
Are we not in a new era of reconciliation? A new decade? The decade of the enactment of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Act in this province?The Tyee is supported by readers like you Join us and grow independent media in Canada
What would I expect from the premier in this new era, in this particular situation when he needs credibility with First Nations if his commitment to UNDRIP is to be taken seriously?
I would expect the premier to look back on past decisions and ensure they were made in the spirit of UNDRIP — including approval of the Coastal GasLink pipeline. His party was making political promises to uphold UNDRIP long before the NDP were in government.
In the 2014 Supreme Court of Canada Tsilhqot’in decision, the justices stated clearly that provincial and federal governments need to be prepared to cancel already approved projects if First Nations establish title to the land and oppose them.
“Once title is established, it may be necessary for the Crown to reassess prior conduct in light of the new reality in order to faithfully discharge its fiduciary duty to the title-holding group going forward,” the judgment says. “For example, if the Crown begins a project without consent prior to Aboriginal title being established, it may be required to cancel the project upon establishment of the title if continuation of the project would be unjustifiably infringing.” (Emphasis added.)
The court also sets out the correct path for governments.
“Governments and individuals proposing to use or exploit land, whether before or after a declaration of Aboriginal title, can avoid a charge of infringement or failure to adequately consult by obtaining the consent of the interested Aboriginal group.”
Horgan should heed the advice of the Supreme Court of Canada and revisit the decision to proceed with the pipeline, especially in light of his commitments to resolve land titles, implement UNDRIP and advance reconciliation. The court advised getting the consent of Indigenous people; that’s what he should do.
The right to self-determination
Furthermore, UNDRIP is very clear that all Indigenous Peoples have the right to self-determination. Self-determination means that Indigenous Peoples will freely determine their own political status. That means governments and companies cannot decide which is the right governing body for a nation. That is a matter for Indigenous Peoples.
The Indian Act imposed a system of government on First Nations, attempting to dismantle a governance system that had functioned for centuries. It made chiefs and councils the owners of the land and gave them total power.
But traditional government systems have not been eradicated.
Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are opposing the pipeline, and some are questioning their legitimacy.
But the 1997 Delgamuukw decision, which transformed the way Indigenous land title is considered, wasn’t brought by Indian Act elected chiefs and councils.*
Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs launched the lawsuit and took the issue to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Surely this should indicate to the government and companies who has title and rights to the land. And surely, they should recognize that it is up to the Indigenous people to determine this, not the provincial government. Clearly the hereditary chiefs must be part of this decision on whether the pipeline proceeds.
Free, prior and informed consent
Free, prior and informed consent has been and will continue to be an issue in relation to UNDRIP, because governments and Indigenous people do not agree on its meaning.
Horgan’s government has said it was waiting for the UNDRIP legislation to pass before working to reach agreement about what free, prior and informed consent means. He has not tried to work this out with First Nations in advance, even though that would have been prudent.
We have heard Horgan and Minister of Indigenous Relations Scott Fraser say that the requirement for free, prior and informed consent does not give First Nations a veto over projects in their territories.
Then what is consent under UNDRIP? Is it a simple yes or no? Does it give a veto because no means no? These are good questions that must be answered by Indigenous Peoples and governments.
The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are saying no. No consent. No project. No access. Not on their lands.
In criminal law, a woman can say no to a man and no means no. If he proceeds against her wishes, he can be guilty of a crime. Why doesn’t the requirement for free, prior and informed consent give the same right to Indigenous Peoples?
So what does consent mean to this B.C. government? That they have the final say? That they can decide no does not mean no. That the status quo continues when it comes to development?
That would not reflect a new era of reconciliation, or the principles of UNDRIP. That would be the Crown asserting jurisdiction over First Nations laws and title once again.
Sending in the RCMP to remove protesters is also the same old story — a show of force against defenders of the land who are not armed, who are elders, youth and chiefs. RCMP assert their power under a court order that hasn’t taken into account Indigenous laws.
This pipeline dispute is not new. It has been ongoing for years. That it has not been resolved speaks volumes about the unwillingness of this government to sit down at a table with the hereditary chiefs and talk about why they are opposed and try and resolve differences.
If we are in the era of reconciliation, there needs to be more efforts to come to agreements. If agreements cannot be reached, there needs to be impartial tribunals established to help find those solutions. And if no solutions are found, then there is no project.
If the principles of UNDRIP are being implemented and being placed into laws, the government has to start respecting its provisions now.
For instance, Article 18 gives the Wet’suwet’en the right to participate in any decision-making through their own procedures and law. This has not happened.
Article 26 gives them the right to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources they possess through ownership, and says the state must give legal recognition and protect their lands and resources. None of this has occurred to date, and it doesn’t look like B.C. is even considering it. The government is saying this is Crown land, the company has Crown permits, so therefore the development must happen.
Article 25 gives the Wet’suwet’en the right to strengthen their spiritual relationship with the land, waters and resources in their territories. But if their territory is destroyed for a pipeline, their relationship with their land will also be destroyed.
Article 29 gives them the right to the productive capacity of their territories, and a pipeline does not allow for this.
There are many more articles on implementing laws and protecting sacred and cultural sites that B.C. is violating by continuing with the pipeline project over Wet’suwet’en objections.
These statements by Horgan set back the ambitious, positive agenda set by his government in implementing UNDRIP. They signal to First Nations’ people in B.C. that the government is not serious about the new law.
And they strongly signal trouble ahead as B.C. continues with its status quo agenda that claims government has final say over developments on First Nation title lands, and the requirement for free, prior and informed consent will not be taken seriously.
Many First Nations peoples in this province are hearing Horgan and asking what has changed?
The answer is nothing. B.C. is moving ahead with the government’s economic agenda at the expense of First Nations rights, title and all the requirements set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
First Nations people thought we were throwing out the old book and beginning a new one. Sadly, it looks like the same old story. This is not the new decade we were looking for.
‘Each Moment Here Is a Victory’: Wet’suwet’en Supporters Aren’t Backing Down, RCMP ‘exclusion zone’ isn’t deterring anti-pipeline activists, land defenders. A report from the scene by Amanda Follett Hosgood, Jan 15, 2020, TheTyee.ca
Amanda Follett Hosgood lives and writes amidst the stunning mountains and rivers of Wet’suwet’en territory. Find her on Twitter @amandajfollett.
Thirty-nine kilometres down the Morice Forest Service Road in northern British Columbia, people huddle around a fire, close enough to feel some heat but not enough to melt their boots.
At -34 C, it’s a fine line.
A handful of people mill around in the camp about 60 kilometres south of Smithers. They are here to support the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their opposition to a pipeline slated to cross their traditional territory. The pipeline would carry fracked gas from northeast B.C. to an LNG plant on the coast in Kitimat.
Tensions have been high in the area since a Dec. 31 B.C. Supreme Court decision that granted Coastal GasLink an injunction barring land defenders from blocking access to the pipeline work sites. Some Wet’suwet’en fear the injunction could also lead to the destruction of their camps in the area.
Since the decision, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have evicted the company from their territory and the RCMP have established an “exclusion zone” in the area, limiting access.
Meanwhile, a steady supply of food and warm clothing donations has been making its way to this remote outpost. Land defenders say they will ensure supplies are delivered to additional camps located farther along the forestry road.
But today, what they are most hungry for is information. Since RCMP unexpectedly closed the road Monday, few people have made it past the police checkpoint and communication has been limited.
In a statement released Monday, RCMP blamed “hazardous items of fallen trees and tire piles with incendiary fluids” for the closure. The same concerns were set out in an RCMP news release a week earlier.
By late Monday afternoon, officers were limiting media access and not allowing supporters, including some Wet’suwet’en band members, from going into the area to deliver supplies.
Molly Wickham, spokesperson for the Gidimt’en camp, was eventually allowed to travel to the camp at kilometre 39. She said the RCMP had warned that supporters leaving the area would be detained.
“Those people are in tents at the side of the road, in a pullout, and they’re not doing anything but just being there. And now [the RCMP is] saying that anybody who comes out of there now is going to be detained,” Wickham said at the RCMP checkpoint Monday evening.
One supporter who chose to leave with Wickham was asked for identification and allowed to carry on but was told he could not return to the area, she said.
According to the RCMP release, “All occupants of vehicles exiting the area who were not already spoken to on their way in will be briefly detained per paragraph 10 of the B.C. Supreme Court injunction, asked for identification, and provided a copy of the court order before they are permitted to go on their way.”
On Tuesday, several news outlets were allowed past the checkpoint after providing RCMP with identification and proof of media affiliation.
“I don’t understand how they could monitor people that closely. This isn’t a war zone. We’re not terrorists and that’s how they’re treating us,” Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks said Tuesday.
He added that the scenario is eerily reminiscent of events a year earlier.
On Jan. 7, 2019, RCMP blocked access to the area before moving in to enforce an interim injunction allowing Coastal GasLink access to its pipeline right-of-way. Fourteen people were arrested. All civil charges were later dropped. Criminal charges against two Wet’suwet’en supporters are expected before the court this month.
Pipeline work had continued on the territory until hereditary chiefs evicted Coastal GasLink on Jan. 4 and closed the road. The company said on its website that “more than 100 trees” were felled across the road.
Na’Moks said Monday’s road closure came as a surprise to the chiefs, who learned about it after a supporter was turned back at the checkpoint. The chiefs were in communication with B.C. RCMP deputy commander Jennifer Strachan one week ago after calling for meetings with provincial decision-makers.
Na’Moks blamed what he describes as “inflammatory comments” made by B.C. Premier John Horgan for the closures.
“When Premier Horgan said in his statement ‘We have a better relationship than we did last year,’ last year, we had guns pointed at us,” Na’Moks said. “If that’s how he defines the relationship, as guns pointed at us, yes, it’s much better.”
Sabina Dennis, who is from Dakelh territory to the east, was on the front lines when the barricades at Gidimt’en camp came down last year. She decided to return to the area after the Dec. 31 injunction decision.
She said she isn’t afraid of being arrested at the site.
“I’ve done nothing incriminating or wrong,” she said. “We’re following Wet’suwet’en law, and it’s in tune and in alignment with my moral laws and moral compass. If they were to consider anything I did illegal, I would gladly be made an example. I have no fear, once again, for being detained or if I were to face any arrest situation. I’m prepared for that as well.”
Ari L., a supporter from Quebec who declined to give her last name, had been supporting Wet’suwet’en efforts from afar before arriving in northern B.C. earlier this month.
“I think there’s value in allies, and especially white allies, being willing to put their bodies on the line, especially since Indigenous people are so much likely to be victims of violence, especially RCMP violence, historically,” she said.
Supporters said reports of the RCMP detaining people as they left were not deterring them from escaping the chilly temperatures in camp.
“It’s illegal for them to detain or arrest anyone who hasn’t done anything wrong. We are a humanitarian camp. We’re here to make sure that people stay warm and people stay fed and just to be witnesses to whatever may happen,” Ari said.
With -30 C temperatures forecast for Tuesday night, Dennis was also resolved to remain in camp and continue funnelling supplies to other encampments.
“I think we’re here as long as we can be. Each moment here is a victory. Each moment that the lands are under Wet’suwet’en law is a victory,” she said.
‘Rule of law’ isn’t only B.C., Canadian law: Bellegarde by Kathleen Martens, Jan 14, 2020, ATPN News
Perry Bellegarde is not happy with B.C. Premier John Horgan’s spin on the “rule of law.”
The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations said his members support the “governance and decision-making process of the Wet’suwet’en people. Canada and British Columbia must do the same.”
It’s the second time Bellegarde has involved himself in the pipeline dispute playing out in northern B.C.
Last January the national Indigenous leader told RCMP to stop their violent incursion on Wet’suwet’en traditional territory south of Houston, B.C.
Now Bellegarde said the “rule of law” cited by Horgan Monday as a reason Coastal GasLink construction should continue isn’t only Canadian law.
The “rule of law” includes honouring First Nations laws in their traditional territories,” Bellegarde told APTN News.
“The necessity of respecting those laws and traditions is further underlined by the provisions of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Right now, the federal government and BC government must meet with the Wet’suwet’en leadership and immediately work to resolve this matter through dialogue not violence.”
Horgan, whose NDP are in power thanks to a partnership with the B.C. Green Party, said adopting UNDRIP doesn’t give Indigenous opponents a veto over the multi-billion-dollar project to ship natural gas to foreign markets.
“I don’t understand why we’re having this conversation,” agreed Ellis Ross, a former Haisla chief in northern B.C. and now Liberal MLA.
Two types of law
“We don’t have two types of law…We can’t pick and choose which law we’re going to abide by today and just decide that, ‘OK, some certain groups of people can define their own laws.’”
But Kate Kempton, an Indigenous rights lawyer in Toronto, said Canada could absolutely have two parallel laws.
“Unless and until Crown governments recognize that or accept that a space needs to be carved out for an equal status Indigenous legal realm in Canada…you’re going to end up with a very imperfect and unfair set of answers.”
Kempton said New Zealand and Australia have made such a space.
“Suppose an Indigenous law was as applicable here as Canadian law. That would mean that Coastal GasLink would have to get a set of permits from the Crown government, but they’d also need a set of permits from the relevant Indigenous government.”
Kempton said Wet’suwet’en pipeline opponents are staring down colonial governments and corporations as part of Indigenous self-determination.
“What the Crown governments have to do instead of continuing to fund poverty, they need to find a way for real economic support in the trillions of dollars to go toward Indigenous governments to figure out for themselves how self-determination, self-governance is going to work.”
Then, instead of fighting each other in court or at barricades on the ground, Kempton said they would know “what is our government, who’s in it and who’s going to decide when there’s an external project within our Nation yes or no” – instead of elected versus hereditary versus Canadian.
“Right now, the support and structure isn’t there so you end up with this messy situation reflected in this case,” the lawyer added.
The ‘messy situation’ in B.C. has attracted the attention of international and national civil and human rights groups.
The United Nations, Amnesty International, B.C. Human Rights Commission and B.C. Civil Liberties Association all released statements slamming the position of Canada’s elected politicians on Indigenous rights.
“All of your governments have recognized that significant shifts are required to move forward with reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and show full regard for their rights in the Constitution and under international law,” said Amnesty’s English and French secretaries general Alex Neve and France Isabelle-Langlois.
“If promises to do so are not met with concrete action, very much including tough and challenging decisions such as those required here, then the words remain empty. That is the shameful history that Canada absolutely must leave behind.”
Ross, who supports the pipeline project and the jobs it offers Indigenous communities, was critical of the UN alleging Canada’s resource projects are racist.
“The UN is highly irresponsible in not talking to everybody to get a complete picture of what’s happening here in B.C. over the past 14 years,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
“They took one story out of B.C. and they figured that all the Aboriginals in B.C. are being trampled on and that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
In a replay of last January, RCMP took control of a section of unceded Wet’suwet’en Nation land Monday in what they termed a safety measure.
They are blocking traffic from moving in and out of the narrow Morice West Forest Service Road south of Houston that winds its way through snowy forest land to camps operated by the Gidimt’en and Unist’ot’en clans.
CGL claims camp members interfere with its ability to construct the pipeline and won an interlocutory injunction from a B.C. Supreme Court judge. It said it was up to the RCMP to enforce the injunction.
Preserve the safety
“Our duty is to preserve the safety of everyone involved in this dispute, and to prevent further contraventions to the BC Supreme Court ordered injunction,” said Dawn Roberts, in a release from B.C. RCMP. [When will our RCMP thoroughly and appropriately investigate our corrupt regulators, courts and judges, and stop bullying and invading communities and families harmed by oil and gas?]
“As a result, an access control checkpoint has been established at the 27 kilometer mark of the forestry road. The purpose is to mitigate safety concerns related to the hazardous items of fallen trees and tire piles with incendiary fluids along the roadway, as well as to allow emergency service access to the area.”
The felled trees and tire piles were discovered last week by CGL workers and reported to the RCMP.
“We remain committed to facilitating the ongoing dialogue between Indigenous communities, Coastal GasLink and Government, in the hopes that these efforts will result in a safe and peaceful outcome,” Roberts added in the release.
She said people allowed to pass the police checkpoint were: [Nice lies! RCMP on the ground are violating their own directions!]
-All hereditary and elected chiefs;
-Elected and other government officials;
-Journalists with accreditation from recognised media outlets; [Does “recognized” mean only pro oil and gas, postmedia crap?]
-Persons providing food, medicine or other supplies or services required for the well-being and safety of persons behind the blockades;
-Other persons as approved by the RCMP operations commander or delegate.
“For purposes of safety, all persons entering must indicate their specific destination, estimated time of return and indicate their understanding of the hazards present. Vehicles and persons entering will be logged to ensure awareness of who has entered and safely exited. All other vehicles will be turned away,” the release added.
“All occupants of vehicles exiting the area who were not already spoken to on their way in will be briefly detained per paragraph 10 of the BC Supreme Court injunction, asked for identification, and provided a copy of the court order before they are permitted to go on their way.”
Meanwhile, the interim leader of the B.C. Green Party was not available for an interview Tuesday.
And the president of CGL again asked for a meeting with the hereditary chiefs.
“We believe that by working together, we can address the interests of the Office of the Wet’suwet’en while continuing to provide significant benefits to the Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous communities,” David Pfeiffer said in a letter posted to the company’s website Tuesday.
The chiefs, who don’t want the pipeline on their unceded territory, were in meetings Tuesday.
RCMP set up checkpoint restricting access in Wet’suwet’en territory amid clash over pipeline, ‘Being restricted on your own territory is against our law,’ hereditary chief says by Chantelle Bellrichard, CBC News, Jan 14, 2020
The RCMP have blocked access to a First Nation’s territory in northern B.C., heightening tensions as government officials and hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en continue to clash over the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
The Mounties have increased their presence in the area, setting up a checkpoint and restricting access along a service road that leads to three sites where the Wet’suwet’en are maintaining a presence.
Meanwhile, the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs continue to assert their own laws — saying they want Coastal GasLink and the RCMP off the territory.
“Being restricted on your own territory is against our law. We’ve always had free access to our entire territory,” hereditary chief Na’moks said.
The pipeline by Calgary-based TC Energy is meant to move natural gas from northeastern B.C. to the coast, where a liquefied natural gas plant is scheduled for construction.
On Monday, B.C. Premier John Horgan said the project will proceed, that Coastal GasLink has all the necessary permits to build its pipeline, and that “the rule of law needs to prevail” — citing a B.C. Supreme Court decision that in December granted the company an injunction for unimpeded access to work sites.
Work in the area has been temporarily suspended with the exception, under an agreement with the chiefs, of some winterizing.
On Tuesday, the company released a letter from president David Pfeiffer offering to meet Na’moks on Friday. But the chiefs have said they only want to talk government-to-government with Ottawa and the province.
Among the outstanding issues for Coastal GasLink is that the Morice Forest Service Road, which is subject to the injunction, remains impassable.
The RCMP said in a news release on Monday that the checkpoint is “to mitigate safety concerns [and] … allow emergency service access to the area.”
It said the hereditary chiefs, elected government officials, journalists and people delivering supplies to the area will be allowed to travel through the checkpoint with permission from the operations commander. It said other people not listed may be allowed to move through the checkpoint, with approval.
The chiefs say access is being restricted, and that the new checkpoint came as a surprise.
Communication continues between the province and the chiefs through a separate process that started last year and isn’t specific to any particular project.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Horgan said those discussions need to continue and described the Wet’suwet’en as “leaders in issues around self government and self determination and rights and title in Canada.”
The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs were part of a landmark Indigenous rights and title case at the Supreme Court of Canada, along with their Gitxsan neighbours. The 1997 decision affirmed that the Wet’suwet’en never gave up title to their lands but the matter has never been fully resolved between governments.
Horgan didn’t say where the Coastal GasLink project fits into ongoing discussions with the chiefs, except to say: “This is a pipeline — it’s an industrial project and there’s so much more at stake for the people of northern British Columbia than just this project.”
That includes the 20 First Nations that have signed agreements with Coastal GasLink and stand to benefit from the project.
Premier John Horgan holds his first news conference of the year in the Press Gallery at B.C. Legislature in Victoria on Monday. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)
Na’moks said the hereditary chiefs listened to what Horgan said on Monday and saw a contradiction between his touting of the rule of law and the First Nation’s leadership in the area of rights and title.
Horgan’s stance “weakens” the province’s relationship with the Wet’suwet’en, he said.
“Here we are trying to build a stronger relationship. We are a government, we’ll remain a government, we are on our lands, we’ll remain on our lands, and we will govern it as we see fit.”
Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief Na’Moks addresses the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples at at the meeting of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York last April.
But Na’moks agreed with the premier’s statement that the relationship has improved over the last year
“It is better,” he said.
“This time last year we had guns pointed at us. So that relationship is better. Any relationship where you’re not looking down the barrel of a gun is a better relationship.”
Coastal GasLink pipeline will be built despite protests, B.C.’s Horgan says, Premier John Horgan said courts have ruled in favour of the project and ‘the rule of law needs to prevail’ by Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press, January 14, 2020, Financial Post
A natural gas pipeline across northern British Columbia is vital to the region’s economic future and it will be built despite the objections of some Indigenous leaders, Premier John Horgan said Monday.
He said the courts have ruled in favour of the project and the rule of law will apply [whose rule of law? the oil and gas industry’s? it’s obvious the industry controls too many Canadian judges and courts] to ensure work continues on the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which would start near Dawson Creek and extend to an export terminal at Kitimat.
The 670-kilometre pipeline is part of a $40 billion LNG Canada project. [that waste more fossil fuel energy than it provides while permanently destroying vital agricultural lands and permanently removing life-sustaining water from the hydrogeological cycle. Pure greed-induced idiocy, the kind that only humans boast]
Horgan told a news conference the project has received approval from 20 First Nations along the pipeline route. [That’s irrelevant; just because some have given approval, does not mean all have]
“We want everyone to understand that there are agreements from the Peace Country to Kitimat with Indigenous communities that want to see economic activity and prosperity take place,” he said. “All the permits are in place for this project to proceed. This project is proceeding and the rule of law needs to prevail in B.C.” [Wow, our authorities are sure pimping the rule of law crap lately. Must be because reality is making many Canadians no longer believe it exists in Canada, except for the rich; pedophile billionaires, royalty, lawyers & priests and their heinous legal/lawyer enablers; law-violating public health and environment harming corporations; regulators and health authorities; corrupt politicians; and racist, misogynistic (and pedophile?) judges and judges intentionally publishing lies in their rulings; and some criminals]
Hereditary chiefs from the Wet’suwet’en Nation near Smithers say the project does not have their consent. Supporters of the chiefs have felled trees along a road to a Coastal GasLink work site and are building a new support camp.
They already occupy two other camps along the road. The Unist’ot’en camp and the Gidimt’en camp, where the RCMP enforced an injunction last year and arrested 14 people.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge extended an injunction against Wet’suwet’en members and anti-pipeline supporters on Dec. 31.
Coastal GasLink posted the injunction order last week giving opponents 72 hours to clear the way to its work site. The company said it was up to police to determine the “timing and manner of enforcement of this order.” [Nasty!]
The RCMP began restricting access on Monday to the area where the court injunction applies.
The Mounties say a police checkpoint was set up at the 27 kilometre mark of a forestry road into the area because of safety concerns stemming from the trees that were felled across the road and tire piles that were recently found with gasoline and other fuels inside.
Those entering the area on the road are being stopped by police and given a copy of the court’s injunction, as well as being informed about hazards and road conditions. [with RCMP violating their own rules about their check stop, and refusing entry to those the RCMP state are allowed entry.]
The RCMP said those being allowed to enter must have permission from the RCMP’s operations commander, which generally includes hereditary and elected chiefs, elected and other government officials, accredited journalists from recognized [eg, pro industry, racist anti-indigenous only, like Rebel?] media outlets, and those providing food, medicine or other supplies.
RCMP REALITY CHECK:
Brad Michael @BeardysCree Replying to @photobracken@BCRCMP
Meanwhile Rebel gets in. What’s the RCMP’s agenda on this matter. Suspect. [Are RCMP letting Rebel in because they’re racist and pro-polluter?]
END RCMP REALITY CHECK
The RCMP said its commanding officer in British Columbia has been involved in a series of meetings and more are planned with the hereditary chiefs, elected band councils and others with an interest in the pipeline.
“It was emphasized that the primary concerns for the RCMP are public and officer safety,” it says in a statement released on Monday. “Our duty is to preserve the safety of everyone involved in this dispute, and to prevent further contraventions to the B.C. Supreme Court ordered injunction.”
The Wet’suwet’en hereditary clan chiefs have asked the RCMP not to use force against the pipeline opponents who are facing the injunction order.
Horgan said Indigenous Peoples in B.C. have used the courts to successfully assert their rights and title, but in “this instance the courts have confirmed that the project can proceed and will proceed.”
Horgan’s government adopted legislation late last year to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It mandates the government to bring provincial laws and policies into harmony with the declaration’s aims of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
The UN declaration says Indigenous Peoples have the right to self-determination, which means they can determine their political status and pursue economic, social and cultural development. It requires governments to obtain “free and informed consent” from Indigenous groups before approving projects affecting their lands or resources.
But Horgan says the declaration doesn’t apply to the Coastal GasLink project.
“Our document, our legislation, our declaration is forward looking,” he said. “It’s not retrospective. We believe it will open up opportunities not just for Indigenous people but for all British Columbians.”
Refer also to:
Nasty Coastal GasLink! Nasty BC Supreme Court! Nasty RCMP! Update by Unist’ot’en Camp
Counter-terrorism unit set up in Alberta to help protect energy industry, public
Counter-terrorism unit set up in Alberta to protect energy industry
Elsipogtog man says RCMP officers visited home with questions about Facebook comment
A Dead Man’s Prints, RCMP request to fingerprint Wiebo Ludwig’s corpse refused
RCMP spied on B.C. natives protesting pipeline plan, documents show
Hey CSIS, farmers are not terrorists, Anti-fracking activists have been labelled a security threat
RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] bombed oil site in ‘dirty tricks’ campaign