Saturday, February 15, 2020

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.

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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

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