Letter: Columnist didn't tell the full Wet'suwet'en story

Protests supporting Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief’s opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline have been taking place in Vancouver and across the country over the past week. Photo Dan Toulgoet

Letter: Columnist didn't tell the full Wet'suwet'en story

Editor:

Re: Greens in tough without Weaver, Opinion

In Keith Baldrey's recent op-ed, he made statements that are misleading and need clarification. He says that a “few hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation ... are leading an attempt to kill or reroute a natural gas pipeline through their traditional territory (even though their nation's elected council supports it)."

Then he says "every First Nation along the pipeline route … supports it."

There are five hereditary chiefs who are against the pipeline. They represent all five clans of the Wet'suwet'en nation who are uniformly against the pipeline through their unceded territory.

The Supreme Court of Canada in its Delgamuukw decision unequivocally stated that the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs hold authority on their unceded land.

The First Nations that support the pipeline are Indian Act reserves. The elected chiefs of these reserves hold authority only over reserve land as stated in the Indian Act, not on unceded territory. At the risk of being repetitive, I must emphasize that the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs hold authority on their unceded territory.

Mr. Baldrey should tell the whole story, not just the part that justifies his chosen narrative.

Andrew Phillips, New Westminster

Oka, Ipperwash, Caledonia — Canada’s tense history with Indigenous blockades

By Alex BallingallOttawa Bureau
Fri., Feb. 14, 2020


OTTAWA—At the main camp beside the railroad tracks in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory this week, it was a marvel to consider how a cluster of parked vehicles and tents could wreak so much economic and political consternation. Canada’s largest railway is shutting down half its network, and its largest passenger carrier cancelled service nationwide.

Meanwhile, the police — armed since last week with a court injunction to clear the way for train traffic — were barely noticeable, parked in a few cruisers several hundred yards back from the Mohawk blockade.

Now, as the federal government takes steps to address the protest movement that has spread across Canada in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia, Transport Minister Marc Garneau says there is a reason officials are stressing dialogue over forceful intervention.


History.

“Remember they have to take into account some history here,” Garneau told reporters in Toronto Friday, when asked why provincial authorities haven’t enforced the court injunction to clear the blockade.

“We’re talking about what happened at Ipperwash or Caledonia,” he said. “But the injunctions have to be respected because we are a country of the rule of law.”

The government is in a situation with some precedent, in other words — how to uphold a touchstone of modern democracy when a group of people consider its imposition unjustified, even illegitimate. As Cree pipe-carrier Jocelyn Wabano-Iahtail put it this week at the Tyendinaga blockade: “These invaders are coming to us and speaking to us about colonial rule of law. Those are your laws…Those colonial laws have been imposed on us.”


Here is a look at incidents in Canada’s recent history when this tension flared into conflict — sometimes with deadly consequences.

Oka, 1990

For 78 days in the summer of 1990, the small Quebec town of Oka was the scene of a tense and tragic standoff.

The immediate disagreement involved the Kanesatake Mohawk and the town leadership that wanted to expand a nine-hole golf course and build condos on a tract of disputed land. But the roots of the conflict ran all the way back to the 18th century, when the French government unilaterally awarded a stretch of territory along the Ottawa River to a missionary society.

The golf course was built in 1961, over the objections of local Mohawk who filed an official land claim in 1977. Twelve years later, in 1989, the mayor of Oka announced the course would expand to 18 holes and 60 condominiums by clearing a forest known as “The Pines” and constructing on land that included the Mohawk cemetery.


Beginning in March 1990, a group of Mohawk Warriors from the Kanesatake reserve barricaded the area and were soon joined by others from the Mohawk reserves in Kahnawake and Akwesasne. The mayor of Oka, Jean Ouellette, eventually asked the provincial police force, the Sûreté du Québec, to intervene and clear the protest camp. On July 11, police stormed the barricades with tear gas and concussion grenades. Shots were fired and police Corp. Marcel Lemay was killed.

The skirmish prompted more Indigenous supporters to join the blockade, which spread as police cordoned off roads in the area and nearby Mohawk blocked a major bridge on the Island of Montreal. By the time the standoff ended that September, 2,500 army troops were on standby as hundreds of soldiers took over from provincial police to face down the protesters at the barricades.

Quoted in Maclean’s just days before the standoff ended, George Erasmus, then national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said “This is not the last stand… This could be the first stand.”

In the end, the golf course expansion was cancelled.

Ipperwash, 1995

Five years later, another long-standing land dispute burst into conflict. This time it was in near Grand Bend, Ont., on the shores of Lake Huron. The local Stoney Point Ojibway reserve had lost land to non-Indigenous development repeatedly during the early 20th century, including when Ontario created Ipperwash Provincial Park.

In 1942, Ottawa asked the First Nation to agree to give up more reserve land to build a military training camp. When the First Nation refused, the government used the War Measures Act to get the land it wanted, gave the nation $50,000 in compensation and relocated its members to the nearby Kettle Point reserve.

Flash forward to 1994, when the government announced it would close the camp. Months later, in July 1995, military personnel and equipment were still there, so a group of frustrated First Nation members forced their way onto the camp and occupied it. By that September, the occupation moved into Ipperwash Provincial Park. After weeks of tension with Ontario Provincial Police, emergency response and tactical units were called into the park. In the ensuing confrontation with demonstrators, 38-year-old Dudley George was shot and killed. Another protester, Cecil Bernard George, suffered 28 blunt force trauma injuries, a beating so severe that an ambulance attendant could not find his pulse, the Star’s Peter Edwards reported.

A judge ruled in 1997 that the protesters who said they were protecting sacred burial grounds were unarmed when OPP officers fired on them. Years later, a public inquiry concluded some police officers were ignorant of Indigenous history and held racists views. Charles Harnick, the Progressive Conservative attorney general during the crisis, told the inquiry that then-premier Mike Harris had said during the occupation: “I want the f—king Indians out of the park.”

Caledonia, 2006

The story of the Caledonia dispute also starts many years ago, in 1784. That’s when Frederick Haldimand, then governor of the British-controlled colony of Quebec signed an agreement to grant Haudenosaunee peoples a tract of land along Ontario’s Grand River. The agreement was meant as compensation for the Haudenosaunee’s alliance with Britain during the American Revolutionary War. There have been disputes over the land ever since.

In February 2006, the long-running dispute flared up in Caledonia, a suburban community southwest of Hamilton. Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River contested the construction of a new subdivision there called the Douglas Creek Estates, which was proposed on land at the centre of a legal dispute between the Mohawk nation and the federal and provincial governments.


After Mohawk demonstrators occupied the construction site for 52 days, the OPP launched a pre-dawn raid and arrested 16 demonstrators, charging them with mischief and assaulting police. The move triggered hours of disorder in which a footpath was lit on fire, a van was toppled from an overpass and three police officers were injured, including one who needed stitches after he was struck in the head with a bag of rocks, the Star reported at the time.

In the following days, supporters at the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Belleville blocked the railroad tracks — just like they are this week — in solidarity with the Caledonia protesters. Angry Caledonia residents jeered at police officers and kicked a cruiser as they called for law enforcement to disrupt the Mohawk demonstration, and there were scuffles at the site of barricades in the area over the ensuing weeks. That June, the Ontario government paid the property developer, ended a court injunction to clear the protest site and halted the development.

The dispute still hasn’t been resolved.
Sources: Star archives; The Canadian Encyclopedia; “The Inconvenient Indian,” by Thomas King

Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering national politics. Follow him on Twitter: @aballinga

THIS IS ONTARIO CENTRIC, FAILED TO LOOK AT THE CASE OF GUSTAFSON IN BC

Gustafsen Lake standoff - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Gustafsen_Lake_standoff

The Gustafsen Lake standoff was a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Ts'peten Defenders in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, at Gustafsen Lake (known as Ts'peten in the Shuswap language). The standoff began on August 18, 1995, and ended on September 17, 1995.

Gustafsen Lake

https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca › gustafsen_lake

... in British Columbia, in Secwepemec (Shuswap) territory, was the location of a ... “Terms of engagement, an anthropological case study of the media coverage ...

Demonstrators gather in Charlottetown in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en chiefs

CBC February 15, 2020

Isabella Zavarise/CBCMore

About 100 people gathered in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en chiefs in Charlottetown on Saturday afternoon.

Demonstrators have been gathering across the country in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who have been opposing the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline on their territory in northern British Columbia.

CN Rail has closed all Eastern Canadian trains and Via Rail has cancelled trains nationwide because of the demonstrations taking place along or on the railway tracks.

RCMP have enforced a B.C. Supreme Court injunction and have made a number of arrests since last Thursday, sparking demonstrations across the country.

Isabella Zavarise/CBCMore

"I think that it's amazing," said Katelyn Sock, one of activists at the demonstration in front of Province House in Charlottetown. "I think we need a lot more people to be aware of what's happening with the water defenders of Wet'suwet'en."


Some of the biggest, most important things that have happened our world have been caused by things that may have been seen as an inconvenience. — Jonathan Williams, ally

As part of the Mi'kmaq community on P.E.I., Sock said she's disappointed with the federal government's response to the demonstrations.

"Just meeting with the chiefs isn't going to do much if they're going to continue to push the pipeline, I feel like they should take a step back," she said.

"We just want to protect Turtle Island and Mother Earth. I just hope that people do their due diligence and their research on what is happening in B.C., and I hope to see more ... protests. I hope to see more rallies. I hope to see more people speaking out and standing up for what they believe in."

While the demonstrations across the county may be perceived as disruptive, Jonathan Williams said they are crucial to progress.

Isabella Zavarise/CBCMore

"It's upsetting but necessary," said Williams, one of the supporters at the event. "I think the notion that stuff like this is an inconvenience is something that I think we really need to deconstruct.

"Some of the biggest, most important things that have happened our world have been caused by things that may have been seen as an inconvenience at the time, but truly have gone to shape the world in ways that we celebrate."

More from CBC P.E.I.

Wet'suwet'en pipeline protests: Where do you stand on the rail blockades happening across Canada?

Protesters who stand with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs have blocked off rail crossing across Canada, affecting train service and forcing CN Rail and Via Rail to cancel their routes.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s led to the nationwide blockades.

• A 670-kilometre gas pipeline is being built by Coastal GasLink through British Columbia, which includes traditional Wet'suwet'en land.
• The provincial government signed off on the pipeline, as well as five of the six band councils part of the Wet'suwet'en nation. Band councils are responsible for their own individual reserves within a territory.
• The Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who are responsible for the territory as a whole, maintain that they don’t want any pipeline to run through their land.
• The Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs have formed protests, which have prevented GasLink workers to access their construction sites for the pipeline. Those protests have led to arrests by the RCMP.
• Other Indigenous nations and people around Canada have stood in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, by forming protests of their own.
• The protests have led to train blockades, which have notably halted CN Rail and Via Rail service around the country.

What do you think of the blockades? Vote in the poll below and sound off in the comments.

Should people form blockades as construction for the pipeline continues?

Yes, I stand with Wet'suwet'en chiefs.

8%

No, they're disruptive and need to end.

92%

1,170 votes

PREDICTABLE SETTLER ATTITUDE SO MUCH FOR THE TEARS FOR RECONCILIATION

THOSE HAVE PAST 

Burning, picketing, marching, chanting: How solidarity for a pipeline spread through the nation

Most visible in the B.C. capital, the protests have played out across the country, from a sit-in in Ottawa, marches in Edmonton, to rail blockades in Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario
 

Saul Brown with the Helitsuk Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations speaks to protesters in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs camped out in front of legislature before the throne speech in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, February 11, 2020.Chad Hipolito / The Canadian Press

Tyler Dawson February 14, 2020

In downtown Victoria, scores of protesters marched and chanted in front of government offices as protests that have unfolded across Canada this week in solidarity with Indigenous objections to a natural gas pipeline continued on Friday.

Perhaps the most visible in the B.C. capital, the protests have played out across the country throughout the week, from a sit-in in Ottawa and marches in Edmonton, to rail blockades in Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario.

By Friday, there was an easing of tension: Even as demonstrators marched outside government buildings in Victoria, having held a prayer earlier in the morning to “open the hearts and minds” of politicians and the public, reports came that a rail blockade in northern B.C., near New Hazelton, had come down as government officials and protesters reached an agreed to meet. Another blockade, in Coquitlam, organized by the Red Braid Alliance for Decolonial Socialism, which had disrupted the morning commute, also ended Friday.

But the rail blockade in Ontario remained.

Near Belleville, Ont., roughly halfway between Ottawa and Toronto, protesters continued to stand firm. Temperatures hovered around -18C Friday morning, but a handful of people, bundled up, milled around the blocked tracks. Two trucks were parked alongside the tracks, and a banner reading “Stop Colonization” hung beside a pickup truck and camper.

As well, media reports said a blockade of a CP Rail line on Kahnawake Mohawk Territory near Montreal remained Friday morning, while the Quebec Union des municipalités demanded Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government put an end to the protests that, as of Thursday evening, saw the shutdown of Canadian National Railway freight shipments in eastern Canada and Via Rail passenger shutdowns across the country.

RELATED STORIES:

The latest on protests across Canada in support of anti-pipeline demonstrators

Pipeline protests spread from coast to coast as politicians warn them to stay in line with law

The latest on protests across Canada in support of anti-pipeline demonstrators

VIA Rail trains are seen parked at Via Rail’s Toronto Maintenance Centre after the Canadian National Railway Co (CN Rail) said it will halt operations in eastern Canada and VIA Rail cancelled its service, as its rail lines continue to be blocked by anti-pipeline protesters, at Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada February 14, 2020. Carlos Osorio / Reuters

“The situation is extremely worrisome and it is urgent the government of Canada settle it. We cannot wait another week,” said Suzanne Roy, interim president of the Union des municipalités in a statement.

The protests are over a pipeline through the interior of B.C: The $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline is to run some 670 kilometres from the Dawson Creek area to Kitimat, on the northwestern B.C. coast, where a major, $40-billion natural gas project is underway.

Elected band councils have signed agreements with Coastal GasLink Pipleline Ltd., a subsidiary of TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Corp.) for the pipeline, but the hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs, who claim jurisdiction over 22,000 square kilometres of the B.C. interior, object to the project. For years, the hereditary chiefs have been attempting to block access to construction sites. The matter heated up when, earlier this week, the RCMP cleared out the final blockades to the pipeline construction sites.

In preparation for Friday’s protests in Victoria, Darryl Plecas, speaker of the B.C. legislature, sought and won an injunction from the B.C. Supreme Court, barring protesters from blocking or “physically barring” access to the legislative precinct. Earlier in the week, as legislators returned to work, protesters blocked access, shouting “shame!” and leading B.C. Premier John Horgan to condemn the protests.

An event posting on Facebook for the series of Friday protests was described as a “picket.”

“We call on settlers to help take responsibility for the colonial institutions causing violence against Wet’suwet’en land and people by picketing BC government buildings,” the posting said.

The British Columbia Government and Service Employees’ Union notified its members Friday that it was not affiliated with the protests, but that employees had “the right not to cross a picket line.” 

Protesters block the Halifax port railway in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada February 11, 2020, in this image obtained from social media. Laura Cutmore/ REUTERS

In Ontario, despite calls from politicians and business leaders to step in, police had not moved to enforce a court order to remove the rail blockade near Belleville that is causing major disruptions to goods and passengers ahead of the Family Day long weekend. Earlier in the week, the court injunction had been given to the protesters; they torched it on the train tracks.

The Ontario Provincial Police defended its handling of the situation, saying officers have been in talks with the protesters throughout the week — a move that’s in line with the force’s framework on resolving conflicts with Indigenous communities.

“The proper use of police discretion is a valid, appropriate approach to de-escalating situations such as this,” spokesman Bill Dickson said in a statement. “The proper exercise of police discretion should not be confused with a lack of enforcement.”

Meanwhile, Marc Miller, the federal Liberals’ Indigenous services minister, had been seeking to meet with protesters. His office said Friday there were no updates on whether or not his attempts to schedule a meeting Saturday had proved fruitful.

With files from the Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun and The Canadian Press

'It’s chipping away at our culture': increasing racism levelled at Wet’suwet’en people


BY ASH KELLY Posted Feb 14, 2020 

FILE: Hereditary Chief Ronnie West, centre, from the Lake Babine First Nation, sings and beats a drum during a solidarity march after Indigenous nations and supporters gathered for a meeting to show support for the Wet'suwet'en Nation, in Smithers, B.C., on January 16, 2019. More than 200 Canadian musicians and industry players are standing in solidarity with people from a northern B.C. First Nation as they protest the construction of a natural gas pipeline on traditional territories. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

SUMMARY


Racism and hatred levelled at Indigenous people over demonstrations


Calls to kill protesters with vehicles and trains 'chipping away at our people' says Wet'suwet'en leader


'Consequence of colonialism' demonstrations spark racists backlash



VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous people are increasingly becoming the targets of racism and backlash as Canada-wide anti-pipeline demonstrations continue.

Online, hundreds of people have callously suggested drivers run over protesters in the streets, prompting concern from community members and chiefs about violence.

“Run ‘em over I guess, seems to be the only option available lol,” reads one comment, mirroring countless others that are not suitable to print.

It’s heartbreaking to watch from outside of his traditional territory, says hereditary wing Chief Andrew George Jr. of the Gidimt’en, Grizzly house, within the Wet’suwet’en Bear Clan.

“It’s now taking effect in the smaller communities in the north and I’m talking racism, systemic racism and it’s bad,” says George, whose traditional name is Skiten.

A wing chief is in line to become a house chief, and assists the house chiefs on issues pertaining to their clan, Skiten says.

He says he is particularly concerned about the safety of elders, women and girls.

Elders, he says, are not engaged in social media and many are being left out of the conversation.

“They’re being attacked in public, based on what is going on with the protests and stuff.”

In a news release Friday morning, Skiten says there is a direct correlation between violence against Indigenous people and resource development decisions.

He alleges the Coastal GasLink crisis has already raised concerns that elected band councillors are retaliating against people who don’t support the pipeline and protesters are “bullying Wet’suwet’en elders to acquire hereditary chief names.”

He adds there are rising tensions on Indigenous and settler relations.

Skiten says he worried about the physical safety of youth seen chaining themselves to cars, blocking train crossing and facing the anger of commuters inconvenienced by the wide-spread blockades, which is why he’s calling for an all-clan meeting.

But Chief Woos, also of the Grizzly House, says wing chiefs have no authority to call an all clans meeting.

“Our protocol is that the House Chiefs call the clan meetings, not wing chiefs. Media need to respect that,” he says, in a text message.

Skiten believes it is the duty of the chiefs to come together soon and work toward solving internal conflicts.

“It’s not just about a pipeline,” he says, “It’s about a governing body.”
‘Chipping away at our people’

As solidarity protesters succeed in their goal of “shutting down Canada,” racist vitriol seems easier to find than ever before.

“Just step on the gas and plow through,” says one commenter on Facebook while others called for trains to run down protesters in northern B.C. and Ontario.

That kind of blatant ignorance and calls for murder are hurting real people, just trying to go about their lives, says Skiten.

“It’s chipping away at our culture. It’s chipping away at our people,” he says, explaining he sees the demonstrations, blockades, and the entire fallout surrounding Coastal GasLink’s pipeline as a consequence of colonialism.

He says the Indian Act and unethical consultation practices are forcing Indigenous people to rise up and declare sovereignty in the face of continued colonialism.

“These are unceded territories. There was no consent given,” he says.

“It’s a known fact in Wet’suwet’en territories, 70 to 80 per cent of people live off reserve. So [government and industry] consulted with about 20 per cent of the population,” when consulting with band council and on-reserve members he notes.

Skiten says he believes a government-to-government relationship is in the cards and that things can still change for the better.

“I think people are weary of the unknown but this system has been in place for generations,” he says, adding he his family has carried hereditary names since pre-contact.

---30---

PIPELINE PROTEST IN NIAGARA FALLS ON SUNDAY COULD MEAN BORDER SHUTDOWN

Friday, February 14th 2020


Some members of Niagara's Indigenous community are planning a protest Sunday to show support for Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who are opposed to the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in BC.

It will happen this Sunday February 16th at 2 p.m. and may impact border traffic heading into and out of the U.S. at the Rainbow Bridge.

The group is meeting at highway 420 and Stanley at 2pm, then walking up the 420 to Rainbow Bridge where they will demonstrate for around an hour.

Indigenous rights advocate, Deane McGean tells CKTB while this is a peaceful, educational event, it will likely obstruct traffic in the area.

Following the gathering at the border the group will head to Oakes Garden Theatre to finish the event off.

"Let it be known that our Brothers and Sisters from Wet’suwet’en Nation are not in this alone. The Niagara Region is home to 16 000 + Indigenous people and we support them. The Government of Canada has continuously failed to meet its legal responsibilities to the original inhabitants - specifically, the Wet’suwet’en Nation. The Wet’suwet’en hereditary governance system predates confederation and they are still here today. This was reaffirmed by the landmark Delgamuukw-Gisday'way case of 1997 (also known as Delgamuukw v. British Columbia)." - Organizing Committee Member

Niagara Indigenous community to rally against pipeline

Demonstration to show support for Wet’suwet’en Nation in British Columbia

NEWS Feb 14, 2020 by Richard Hutton Niagara This Week - Niagara Fall

Niagara Indigenous groups are planning a demonstration on Sunday to show support for members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation in British Columbia, who are fighting to block a pipeline from being built on their territory. - Joelle Kovach/Torstar

Indigenous groups from across the region are gathering in Niagara Falls Sunday to show solidarity with members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation in British Columbia. The demonstration has been organized to draw attention to what the organizers are calling “Canada’s false commitments to reconciliation” in the wake of arrests of members who are protesting the construction of the already-approved Coastal GasLink pipeline. While 20 elected band councils have approved the pipeline construction, chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en have claimed the pipeline can’t proceed through unceded traditional territory without their consent.Tensions flared in recent weeks after the company building the natural gas pipeline, TC Energy, obtained an injunction against any construction blockades from B.C.’s top court. The 670-km pipeline would carry liquefied natural gas from northeastern B.C. to a port in Kitimat, where a conglomerate of companies is building a $40-billion export terminal.Protests have been held across the country, with supporters taking to the streets for demonstrations and blockading rail lines used by CN. The protests have caused disruptions to train service between Toronto and Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa.The Niagara group says in a release that “the use of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, development of an exclusion zone, refusal to negotiate in good faith, and treatment of the press” are of concern.

Demonstrators will meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Hwy. 420 and Stanley Avenue before marching to the Rainbow Bridge, where the formal demonstration, including guest speakers, will take place.

After the demonstration, a closing ceremony will be held at the Oakes Garden Theatre.

With files from The Toronto Star.

Scoped rifle used to observe Coastal GasLink protesters

Rifle used to spot protesters

Nelson Bennett / Business in Vancouver - Feb 14, 2020 / 8:14 am | Story: 277106

Photo: Facebook/ Wet'suwet'en Access Point

RCMP say the enforcement of an injunction against protesters blocking Coastal GasLink from accessing sites along the Morice West Forest Service Road near Houston, B.C. has concluded with a total of 28 arrests.

RCMP also confirm that one of their officers used a rifle scope to observe members of the Wet’suwet’en and their supporters at one of the occupation camps.

The incident occurred Feb. 7 as RCMP moved in on the Gidimt’en camp, one of several established along the Morice West Forest Service Road, to enforce an injunction against Wet’suwet’en protesters and their supporters who have blocked Coastal GasLink workers from getting to work sites.

Video shot by a Gitxsan man, Denzel Sutherland-Wilson, and posted on Facebook, shows an RCMP officer pointing a scoped rifle at him. Sutherland-Wilson was, at the time, standing on a wooden platform that had been erected above a bus.

His video shows an RCMP tactical squad armed with assault rifles below. One of them, behind what appears to be an overturned vehicle, trains a scoped rifle on Sutherland-Wilson.

“Don’t point your gun at me, please,” Sutherland-Wilson pleads. He then asks media nearby on the ground to try to get footage.

“I have nothing,” Sutherland-Wilson says. “Please take down your weapon. I’m asking you.”

Asked about the incident, Sgt. Janelle Shoihet, media relations officer for RCMP E Division, confirmed in an email that one of the RCMP’s emergency response team (ERT) members had used a rifle scope for observation purposes, despite the fact the officer had binoculars.

“The ERT member deployed during enforcement was tasked with providing over watch and was using the rifle scope as a magnified observation device in a manner consistent with police training,” Shoihet writes.

“The ERT member was briefed prior to the operation and was informed there would be rifles in the protest camp, which were believed to be used for hunting, but could present a threat to police in these tense circumstances.‎

“Other hazards had been identified along the road and to the bridge which was immediately East of the bus depicted in the video. The bridge itself was found to be sabotaged and could have caused serious harm if used.”

“The ERT member had issued binoculars for observation however due to a rapidly evolving situation, a scope on a rifle affords safety and efficiency to the police officer. In this case, the member was about 100-150m away from the bus.

“The ERT member providing over watch required the use of the rifle with a magnified scope to be able to safely and effectively respond to a threat to the public and police.

“The ERT member did not point the firearm at any protestor during the operation. The rifle scope has a large objective lens which allows the viewer to observe people or objects without pointing a rifle at anyone.”

“The ERT member was required to ensure no lethal threats were present as RCMP Tactical troop members approached the protestors location.”

“Once the ERT member was satisfied the lethal threats to the police were reduced, he transitioned to binoculars and continued to scan the surrounding bush while Tactical Troop members continued the dealing with the persons in the bus.”

Of the 28 people arrested in recent days, all but one have been released without charge.

As of February 11, an exclusion zone that RCMP had been set up along the Morice West Service Road has been removed. Construction work in the area has resumed, according to Coastal GasLink.

““We are extremely disappointed enforcement was required to re-open the Morice River Forest Service Road but will redouble efforts to engage with the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en and with the Unist’ot’en in search of a peaceful, long term resolution that benefits the Wet’suwet’en people,” the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, protests in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed to the natural gas pipeline project continue to be staged across Canada.

Protesters, which included members of the Canada Palestine Association, occupied the office of B.C. Attorney General David Eby today, February 13, deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland was blocked by protesters from entering Halifax City Hall Wednesday, February 12, and members of the Tyendinaga Mohawks continue to block CN Railway tracks in Ontario. CN Railways tracks near New Hazelton, B.C. also remain blockaded, although CBC reports that it is to be voluntarily removed today.

Supporters of the Wet’suwet’en members who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline have largely drowned out the voices of those Wet’suwet’en leaders who support the project.

All five elected Wet'suwet'en band councils support the project. And while the number of hereditary chiefs who oppose it has grown, some members of the Wet'suwet'en say that's because the hereditary titles of female chiefs who support the project were stripped from them and given to those who oppose the project.

There is some question of whether that is a breach of traditional Wet'suwet'en customs. When granting a court injunction at the end of December, the BC Supreme Court acknowledged that there is some disagreement over who rightfully holds hereditary titles and how they were acquired.

Stewart Muir and Margareta Dovgal of Resource Works has been travelling through Wet’suwet’en territory all week interviewing elders and hereditary chiefs.

“What the protest groups and the Unist'ot'en have been trying to portray about Wet’suwet’en governance and popular support on this issue is completely backwards,” Muir said.

"Traditional law is clear and it's not being respected," Dovgal said. "That's coming through universally. Every single person we've spoken to, whether they are named chiefs all the way to the children of house chiefs, the traditional laws...have just been flagrantly been disregarded."

YESTERDAY
Picketing begins outside B.C. government ministries in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs

by Charlie Smith on February 14th, 2020


ILONA MIHALIK

Indigenous and environmental activists are hoping that B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union members join them in "breaking adherence with the colonial state"

Supporters of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs have set up picket lines outside B.C. government offices in Victoria.

They're carrying signs expressing support for Indigenous rights and opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is being built across unceded traditional Wet'suwet'en territory.

It's the latest action in a rebellion that began when RCMP started enforcing a B.C. Supreme Court injunction against Wet'suwet'en people and their invited guests along the Morice West Forest Service Road.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has warned that there will be consequences for those who "engage in activities that cross lines of what is the norm in our society".

The picket lines are expected to remain up until noon today.
https://twitter.com/brish_ti/status/1228369896288862208



Thousands of government employees work from home as protesters target their offices


Times Colonist FEBRUARY 14, 2020

Wet'suwet'en supporters picket in front of 1515 Douglas St.

 near Victoria City Hall.
Photograph By DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

The sounds of singing, drumming and chanting carried through the streets of downtown Victoria on Friday, as people calling themselves Wet’suwet’en land and leadership defenders peacefully “picketed” government buildings.

The group said they were trying to shut down the B.C. government, in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline through their territory in northern B.C.

Those gathered outside dozens of entrances to government buildings in Victoria and Saanich asked government workers not to cross their lines, and to join them. Demonstrators did not physically block people from entering or exiting buildings.

There are 13,000 B.C. public service employees working in Greater Victoria, according to a provincial spokesperson, but few were seen crossing the lines. Notices on the main entrance to the Ministry of Health building at 1515 Blanshard St. suggested workers use alternate entrances. One demonstrator at the building said a “trickle” of employees had gone inside.

Stephanie Smith, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, said members were advised not to cross the lines in front of government ministries on Friday. “A line is a line in terms of the labour movement here in B.C.,” said Smith. “In the absence of a ruling from the Labour Relations Board on its legality or an injunction, we advise members not to cross a line.”

Smith could not say how many members took the day off or worked from home on Friday.

Don Wright, deputy minister to the premier, issued a statement saying more than 6,500 employees — more than double the normal number — used the government’s virtual private network to do their jobs away from their offices on Friday.

Ta’Kaiya Blaney, an Indigenous youth from Tla’amin Nation north of Powell River, said part of the group’s message is that “reconciliation is dead,” echoing a phrase that was painted on Canadian flags hung upside down outside the B.C. legislature during the past week.

“For Canada to move forward, we really need to have our bottom line be Indigenous sovereignty, and until that is respected — until our lives are valued and Canada demonstrates that value of our lives — we will continue to impact their bottom line,” she said.

The action across the city was tightly organized, with designated media spokespersons for the overall protest. Police liaisons — tasked with observing police behaviour and interactions with demonstrators — were at many locations, wearing reflective safety vests.

Call-and-response chants rang through downtown streets.

“What do we do when Indigenous lands are under attack?” “Stand up. Fight Back.”

Another chant called for Premier John Horgan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “stand down.”

A core group of Indigenous youth who occupied the legislature steps for six days until Tuesday night made the rounds to government buildings where groups were gathered, singing and drumming as they arrived.

“We don’t need your rule of law,” they sang. “RCMP off the yintah.” Yintah means land in the language of the Wet’suwet’en.

Friday morning saw none of the tension that boiled over on Tuesday at the legislature when police physically separated some demonstrators who had linked arms and blocked MLAs and legislature staff from entering the building to attend the opening of the spring session. The ceremonial arrival of Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin was cancelled; she would have walked through the building’s front doors on a red carpet to the sounds of a 15-gun salute.

Victoria police said later that four people made allegations of assault following the legislature blockades on Tuesday. Police said three of those people received non-life threatening injuries and one person reported damage to equipment.

Police did not specify whether the people who reported injuries were involved in the demonstrations or trying to get through the blockades, but said their request for victims and witnesses of assaults was for anyone, “no matter who they are.”

Police vehicles could be seen circling the streets where groups gathered Friday.

A demonstrator’s police liaison who spent the morning outside an entrance to the Ministry of the Attorney General said he was not aware of any interactions between police and demonstrators.

The morning culminated in two large gatherings at the corner of Pandora and Douglas streets, where the crowd heard from some of the Indigenous youth who had camped outside the legislature.

“This is a moment in history,” said Saul Brown. “We just got a call from the B.C. Royal Museum asking for signs for posterity and longevity of this movement, because there is no going back.”

David Alexander, head of archives for the Royal B.C. Museum, was conducting “rapid response collecting” at a picket line on Superior Street on Friday, handing out his business card and asking demonstrators at various sites to donate their signs and pamphlets.

“We hold the memory of the province,” said Alexander. “This is a significant event, so if any of the protesters are interested in donating signs and that sort of thing … we often do this out at protests.”

Morgan Mowat, a media spokesperson for the protesters, called Friday’s attempt to shut down ministries a success, saying it “showed how much people care about ensuring Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are heard.”

Similar demonstrations will continue to pop up until the Wet’suwet’en chiefs’ authority over their unceded land is recognized, said Mowat.

As the groups disbanded shortly before 1 p.m., Victoria police said in a tweet that they weren’t aware of any disruptions to traffic, summarizing the morning in two words: “peaceful event.”

The $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline is a key part of the $40-billion LNG Canada project and would span 670 kilometres across northern B.C., starting near Dawson Creek and extending to an export terminal at Kitimat, where an $18-billion liquefied natural gas export plant is being built. About one-quarter of the line crosses Wet’suwet’en territory.

Coastal GasLink, which has provincial approval to build the pipeline, has signed benefit agreements with all 20 elected First Nations along the pipeline’s path, but five Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs say the project has no authority to build on their traditional unceded territory without their consent.

Environmentalist David Suzuki, host of CBC TV’s the Nature of Things, paid a visit to the University of Victoria on Friday night, where he told a gathering of about 60 people he wanted to thank Indigenous youth for standing up for what he called the “Titanic battle over the future of the planet.”

“It’s not about pipelines, it’s not about climate change, it’s about the way that we live on this planet,” said Suzuki. “That’s what the dominant society does not want to face.”

“What I hope you are doing is making them meet with the Indigenous leaders, the leaders of the Wet’suwet’en,” he said.


Protesters thanked by First Nations members

 Times Colonist FEBRUARY 14, 2020 

Protesters stand in front of a building at 525 Superior St. 

that houses the Ministry of the Environment, on Friday. Feb. 14, 2020
Photograph By ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST


Two First Nations members toured the demonstrations at government offices on Friday morning to shake the hands of individual supporters and personally thank them.

Steve Sxwithul’txw of the Penelakut Tribe and a woman from another First Nation band on Vancouver Island who did not want her name revealed welcomed the protesters.

“It’s nice to see non-Indigenous people supporting Indigenous people,” the woman said outside the Ministry of Health building on Blanshard Street.

Many of the demonstrators represent the next generation, she said. A large proportion of the protesters around her were young adults.

“We don’t see a lot of our people out here, but what’s not recognized is that when our people put themselves out there, we become a target of threats and violence,” she said.

Indigenous people face racism on an ongoing basis, she said. Sxwithul’txw added: “The online hate is just non-stop.”

The pipeline isn’t the only issue — it’s also about the history of Indigenous people and what they have experienced, said Sxwithul’txw, a residential-school survivor. “I’ve been dealt the worst and my family has been dealt the worst of what this colonial history has brought. So it’s important for me, in my fifties, to say: ‘I’m sick and tired of it, too.’ ”

The father of two children, ages 11 and seven, he said he hopes to see changes in society so they don’t have to deal with racism as they grow up. “I’m here for them.”

In recent weeks, protesters have blocked bridges, highways, major intersections and rail lines, as well as the legislature on Tuesday.

“I feel bad for some of the inconveniences that certain people will have — missing appointments and travelling to certain destinations,” Sxwithul’txw said.

But he said what happened in the past 200 years to First Nations is “more than inconveniences — it’s lost lives, lost generations, lost people through the residential school system, Indian hospitals.”

The kind of support seen Friday is what is needed, he said. “We can’t do this alone. We need everybody.”

That’s why the duo delivered their personal thank-yous. “I never thought I would see anything like this. It’s incredible,” Sxwithul’txw said. “It’s about time and we are thankful.”


Wet’suwet’en protests wrap up at the BC government offices in Victoria
February 14th, 2020

Supporters of hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation have begun forming outside of several Victoria government offices on Friday.


Supporters of hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation have wrapped the protests at several B.C. government offices in Victoria.

The demonstrators were outside several B.C. government offices in Victoria on Friday morning.

A Facebook group online entitled ‘BC Government Shutdown’ reads “we invite one and all to join us in a shutdown of the BC Government. At the suggestion of Indigenous Youth, we call on settlers to help take responsibility for the colonial institutions causing violence against Wet’suwet’en land and people by picketing BC government buildings.”

The online event indicated protesters will picket government offices between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Victoria police said there were no road closures Friday morning due to the protests.

Some of the buildings highlighted as part of the shutdown include the Downtown Victoria Ministries, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Advanced Education among others. It is estimated that there will be a total of 30 different locations that activists will gather in an attempt to picket and blockade those buildings.

One of the buildings that was not expected to see protesters is the B.C. Legislature itself. On Thursday, an injunction was granted to B.C. Speaker of the House, Darryl Plecas, authorizing police to arrest and remove people blocking legislature entrances. Friday morning a court order outlining the injunction was posted on the Legislature doors.

The plan for protests follows one that took place at the B.C. legislature on Tuesday where hundreds of people blocked entrances to the building in in solidarity with the fight against the construction of Coastal GasLink’s natural gas pipeline through traditional Wet’suwet’en territory in northern B.C.

“We’re disrupting the B.C. government’s operations, so we’re calling for picket lines. It’s a huge action across Victoria,” said Morgan Mowatt, a PhD student at the University of Victoria and a member of the Gitxsan First Nation.

Organizers of Friday’s protest are ensuring it will be peaceful, however, this comes on the heels of Victoria police announcing Wednesday that four people were reportedly assaulted during the demonstration earlier this week. Police said three of those people suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The fourth was not physically injured but equipment the person was carrying was reportedly damaged, police said.

This is a developing story.

---30---

Wet'suwet'en: Why B.C. is a battleground for Indigenous land rights


CBC News · Posted: Feb 14, 2020

Demonstrators rally at the B.C. Legislature to support Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs on Feb. 11, 2019. (Michael McArthur/CBC)

Listen to the full episode21:21

It's been a week of nationwide protests, blockades and arrests over the Coastal GasLink pipeline planned in traditional Wet'suwet'en territory in northwestern British Columbia. At the core of this conflict is a long-running dispute over who has authority over the land the pipeline is supposed to run through. Today on Front Burner, CBC's Duncan McCue offers a close look at the pivotal 1997 court case that set the stage for this dispute: Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia.