Freeland, Blocked
Pipeline protesters block Freeland from Halifax meeting, tell her to call police


Source CTV News VIDEO HERE

Pipeline protesters linked arms to physically block Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland from entering a meeting at Halifax City Hall.

Freeland planned to meet with Halifax Mayor Mike Savage on Wednesday, but a group of protesters standing in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in British Columbia blocked the front door of the building.

 “No thank you, no thank you,” a protester told Freeland, adding that she may need to call the police to remove the group. “This will not happen. This meeting is not happening.” 

Freeland was eventually able to get into the building and attend the meeting. 

Protesters across Canada have disrupted travel for several days in a show of solidarity for the Wet'suwet'en Nation, whose hereditary chiefs oppose the construction of a 670-kilometre natural gas pipeline through northern B.C. Clashes began last week between RCMP and protesters in Wet’suwet’en territory after officers began to move in to enforce a court-ordered injunction requiring protesters to stop blocking roads.

 Blockades around the country have now halted railway service for five days. Via Rail said that 223 trains will have been cancelled by Thursday, affecting at least 34, 200 passengers. 

In Ontario, a demonstration in Belleville has blocked train travel on the busy corridors between Toronto and Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa. Service from Toronto to Southwestern Ontario, between Montreal-Ottawa and Montreal-Quebec is unaffected, Via Rail said. 

Airlines and bus companies have both reported an uptick in travellers. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he recognized the “important democratic right” of peaceful protests and encouraged “all parties to dialogue to resolve this as quickly as possible.” “This is an important part of our democracy in Canada, but we are also a country of the rule of law and we need to make sure those laws are respected,” Trudeau said at a press conference in Senegal on Wednesday. 

Deputy PM Freeland physically blocked by demonstrators ahead of meeting with Halifax mayor


Blockades have been occurring across Canada in support of Wet’suwet’en First Nation's fight against the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, which crosses their traditional, unceded territory.
Source Globalnews.ca 13.2.2020

“I absolutely respect the right of Canadians across the country to exercise their right to peaceful protest,” Chrystia Freeland said after being physically confronted by Wet'suwet'en solidarity protesters in Halifax . 

Blockades have been occurring across Canada in support of Wet’suwet’en First Nation's fight against the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, which crosses their traditional, unceded territory.

 Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was physically blocked from entering Halifax City Hall on Wednesday by demonstrators supporting the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in northern B.C.

 Freeland was scheduled to meet with Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, but was confronted by several demonstrators who blocked her entrance to City Hall. She was eventually able to squeeze through the doors. 

“I absolutely respect the right of Canadians across the country to exercise their right to peaceful protest,” Freeland told reporters.

 “The protesters did express the view that they wanted to prevent me from having this meeting with the mayor and his team. “Respectfully, that was not a view I was prepared to agree with.”

 Freeland added that it’s important for all people in Canada to “go about their legitimate and rightful business, even as other Canadians are expressing their right to peaceful protest.”

 “Having that balance, having that mutual respect of each other is very important,” she said. 

 Earlier in the day, the deputy prime minister met with Nova Scotia premier Stephen McNeil at One Government Place, where she was also met by about 30 demonstrators.