UPDATE: MONDAY FEBRUARY 10th
RCMP are moving in now on the Wet’suwet’en camp at 66 km. @unistotencamp is tweeting live about the insurgence. Please following them on twitter for updates.
In outrage of the arrests solidarity actions have sprung up across the country.
Police have arrested more than 30 people in Vancouver that were part of four port blockades that had been going all weekend.
There is an active occupation at the Victoria legislature (British Columbia) that has been going all weekend and a rally planned for 3:00 PST today.
There is another action starting in Edmonton at 11:15 at the City Centre mall.
An occupation has also started in Ottawa at the Justice Minister’s office.
There is also a rail and freight blockades outside of Toronto and another rail blockade in Comox.
That’s all for now. We will continue updating this blog as more details come in.
What you can do now:
Call Prime Minister Trudeau’s office (1-613-992-4211) and Premier John Horgan (250-387-1715)
You can ask them to immediately end the RCMP’s incursion on Wet’suwet’en territory. I will tell them to resume talks with the hereditary leadership, to find a peaceful solution to this conflict.
Sample call text:
“I am calling today following the violent, early morning RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en camps.
All five Clans of the Wet’suwet’en have said no to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project. This proposed pipeline does not have free, prior, and informed consent from the Wet’suwet’en.
You must immediately tell the RCMP to stand down on its attack on these peaceful land defenders and have your government open consultations with the Wet’suwet’en.
Prime Minister Trudeau/Premier Horgan, it’s time to live up to your commitments and write a different new story that can actually lead to Indigenous reconciliation and Canada meeting its climate commitments.”
Early this morning RCMP began their raid on Wet’suwet’en camps set-up to defend their lands against a fracked gas pipeline, Coastal GasLink, that the hereditary leadership had already denied access to.
According to media reports the support camp at 39KM has been breached, and police are on their way to the camps at 44 and 66KMs.
We will add more updates as they come. Please follow on twitter @UnistotenCamp, @Gidimten, @ricochet_en for more immediate updates.
Find a solidarity rally near you.
Background:
On December 3rd, B.C. Premier John Horgan said he counted the passing of legislation to enshrine the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into provincial law as one of the proudest moments of his life.
One month later and the province and the federal government are using the RCMP to once again forcibly remove Indigenous leaders from their own lands to push through a fracked gas pipeline, Coastal GasLink.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the UN Humans Rights Commissioner, and Amnesty International have all called on Canadian government to immediately stop the construction of Coastal GasLink, the Trans Mountain pipeline and the Site C hydroelectric dam because they don’t have Indigenous consent — yet both level of governments have pledged to press forward.
Coastal GasLink is a $6.6-billion natural gas pipeline that would go right through the heart of Wet’suwet’en territory. The pipeline would feed into a massive LNG (liquid natural gas) expansion proposed in Kitimat, BC on the west coast. The initial greenhouse gas emissions from that project are huge and would be equivalent to adding more than 856,831 cars to the road. That number could more than double in phase 2 of the project.
If Horgan and Trudeau ever want to live up to their own commitments and words they need to break the cycle.
Will you call Premier John Horgan and Prime Minister Trudeau right now, so we can pressure the BC and Federal government to uphold their commitments to UNDRIP and the climate, and immediately de-escalate tensions with the RCMP and resume talks with the hereditary leadership to find a peaceful solution to this conflict?
Call Prime Minister Trudeau’s office ( 1-613-992-4211) and Premier John Horgan (250-387-1715).
Discussion
Please stop violating our nature!!
Stop the attack against the Wet’suwet’en people and their leaders and supporters. Enough damage has been done to the native peoples of this country. If they do not wish to have a pipeline going through THEIR land then their wishes should be respected. Use of the RCMP to harass and arrest people who are defending Native rights and land is outrageous and as a tax payer I do not appreciate that my money is being used towards government directives that violate human rights.
Please stop destroying nature areas. Respect indigenous land!
I am curious. Maybe it is because this doesn’t make any sense. You won (if I heard right), to continue with the Trans Mountain Pipeline/Environmental disaster waiting to happen, and you find it necessary to have RCMP go in to Forcefully remove the Indigenous people off their land, that you still have no rights to? is this just to puff out your chest or show off Lack of respect? I would like, just once to be able to send you a respectable letter but you make it so very hard. It has to be earned is how I was raised. Patricia F
I think the government and the RCMP has no right over the territory of the indigenous people in Wet’suwet’en. I wouldn't want someone coming into my backyard and telling me it's their right to pollute my water and my backyard and I have nothing to say about it. In the days of climate changes and eco responsible actions, this is the worst Canada can do. Why not be leaders in climate changes instead of sheeps to herd and control by the United States.
I sincerely ask that you consider immediately ending the RCMP’s incursion on Wet’suwet’en territory and that you resume talks with the hereditary leadership and find a peaceful solution to this conflict.
You want to stop climate change then stop drilling for oil and gas. Electric vehicles are becoming a thing of the future. They are too expensive now. They need to be at least as affordable as a gasoline car. As for moving freight. Electric trucks and reduce the plastic packaging will reduce weight and garbage. Get a think tank and change. Change is good and maybe better for the future.
Complete disgusting garbage
Canada does not need this open pit mine. We need alternate energy solutions which will not be so monumentally environmentally destructive.
Honte à Justin Trudeau et à son gouvernement.
Stop the attack against the Wet’suwet’en people and their leaders and supporters. Enough damage has been done to the native peoples of this country. If they do not wish to have a pipeline going through THEIR land then their wishes should be respected. Use of the RCMP to harass and arrest people who are defending Native rights and land is outrageous and as a tax payer I do not appreciate that my money is being used towards government directives that violate human rights.
Lies and deceit at all levels of government Fraudulent statements seem to be the norm. If we lie to the Government it is a crime When the government lies to us it s politics. This time the world is watching as you trample on the rights of the First Nations People across Canada.