B.C. public safety minister condemns blockade at Coastal GasLink pipeline site
British Columbia's public safety minister has condemned a blockade set up along a forestry road used by construction workers for the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline.
Mike Farnworth says in a statement the province is calling for the de-escalation of the "confrontation" and the peaceful removal of the blockade set up Sunday by members of the Gidimt'en clan, one of five in the broader Wet'suwet'en Nation.
Farnworth says the blockade puts emergency access at risk for more than 500 workers, and threatens "good faith commitments made between the Office of the Wet'suwet'en and the Province of B.C. to develop a new relationship based on respect."
A statement posted Sunday by members of the Gidimt'en clan gave Coastal GasLink workers eight hours to leave the area west of Prince George before the service road was closed, a move Farnworth says violates a B.C. court injunction.
The minister says the 670-kilometre pipeline project is nearly halfway complete and has all the provincial permits necessary for the work currently underway, as well as agreements with all 20 elected chiefs and councils for First Nations along the route.
Gidimt'en spokesperson Sleydo', whose English name is Molly Wickham, says their hereditary chiefs have never ceded or surrendered the territory, and their opposition to the pipeline project sparked nationwide protests that stopped railways last year.
A memorandum of understanding signed since then between the federal and provincial governments and Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs had eased tensions, but Sunday's statement from the Gidimt'en clan says an "eviction notice" served to Coastal GasLink by the chiefs in January 2020 is now being enforced again.
The company is concerned for the safety of its workers "due to three new illegal blockades on the Morice River public forest service road blocking all exits and access to two lodges housing more than 500 of our workers, including Wet’suwet’en members," Coastal GasLink said in a statement on Monday.
"We have made the RCMP aware of our concern about the safety of our workers due to these unlawful actions, the latest in a series of illegal opposition activity."
The natural gas pipeline project is more than half finished with almost all of the route cleared and 200 kilometres of pipeline installed so far, the company said.
Coastal GasLink not complying with 'eviction' notice
TC Energy says Coastal GasLink pipeline work crews in the Morice River area have not been evacuated in response to an “eviction” enforcement notice served by the Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation.
On Sunday, members of the Gidimt’en clan said they were enforcing an eviction notice to Coastal GasaLink pipeline construction crews.
"The Morice River FSR (forest service road) has been disabled, blocking trespassers from our yintah!" the clan says in a Facebook post.
In a press release issued Sunday, TC Energy said public statements suggesting TC Energy was planning to comply with the eviction notice are false.
“We want to correct false reports that were made about Coastal GasLink issuing a mandatory evacuation of the workforce and that Coastal GasLink requested time to comply with the eviction notice,” the company press release states.
“These statements are false, as is a document that was posted online purporting to be authored by Coastal GasLink.”
TC Energy says a BC Supreme Court injunction issued against pipeline protesters in 2020 is still in effect, making any attempts to block roads for accessing work sites illegal.
"Coastal GasLink has continued to seek dialogue to resolve this situation, however, to date these offers have not resulted in any response," TC Energy says.
Attempts to blockade roads and bridges to halt work on the $6.8 billion natural gas pipeline project went quiet for a time during the pandemic, but have resumed in recent weeks.
Elected band councils of the Wet’suwet’en formally support the pipeline’s construction, which provides First Nations along the route of the pipeline with community benefits agreements.
But some pipeline opponents within the Wet’suwet’en have never supported the projected and have repeatedly attempted to halt work on the project through road and bridge blockades.
“In addition to blockades, heavy equipment has been damaged and stolen, including by force, at multiple locations,” TC Energy says in its news release.
“The prevention of the safe flow of people and supplies, like water, fuel and food to our people is dangerous and unacceptable. These activities are directly impacting the safety of our employees and contractors.”
Houston RCMP said in a statement that arrests were made on October 27, after attempts to end the most recent road blockades peacefully failed.
“On the evening of October 27, 2021, the RCMP were called to the blockade on Shea Forest Service Road to assist with keeping the peace as CGL workers evacuated the worker’s camp,” the Houston RCMP statement reads.
“During the course of the evening, 2 individuals were arrested.”
One of those arrested had an outstanding criminal code theft and mischief charges, the RCMP said, while the other was found to be in possession of “several stolen items from CGL equipment.”
“Police will be proactively patrolling the forestry roads to ensure they remain open and unobstructed,” the RCMP news release stated.
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