On Saturday, Nov. 27, a group of over 30 people braved the rain in Mill Lake Park to show solidarity and support to those protesting the pipelines being built in unceded Wet’suwet’en territory.
The protest followed an injunction enforced by the RCMP on Nov. 18 and 19 that would prevent all protestors and land defenders from blocking an access road used by Coastal Gaslink pipeline workers. The RCMP arrested a total of 29 people who were blocking access to two Coastal Gaslink work camps along the Morice Forest Service Road.
Coastal Gaslink obtained an injunction on Dec. 31, 2019, against anyone who interfered with the construction of the pipeline. There was an outcry that sparked waves of protests and rail blockades across the nation early last year. Although the elected band council of the Wet’suwet’en First Nations approved the project, the Hereditary Chiefs were opposed.
People of all ages, from babies to retirees, came to the protest. Protestors reported they were present because they care about what is happening in the territory, were curious about the cause and wanted to learn more, and wanted to show support for the Wet’suwet’en leaders who still face detainment for defending their unceded territory.
Emmeret from Abbotsford said: “What is happening is outrageous and unacceptable. They have militarized paramilitary RCMP invading Wet’suwet’en territory … you’ve got your state force working on behalf of a private corporation, and it’s outrageous.”
“Indigenous issues are all of our issues,” said event organizer Q, who organizes with a disability justice background and perspective. “Accessibility is my number one priority, and after that it is solidarity and doing things together for our collective liberation.”
The organizers gave a chance to let each attendee share about why they came to the protest and the event organizer read aloud a “Statement of Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation (and beyond),” a document signed by all who attended. The document expressed “solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Dinï ze’ and Ts’akë ze’ (Hereditary Chiefs), land defenders, and accomplices in their fight against Coastal Gaslink and the RCMP’s unjust and unlawful actions on their Yintah (territory).”
The document states that the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs haven’t given their consent for the Coastal Gaslink pipeline that is being built on their territory, and the violence enacted against land defenders by the RCMP is a form of colonialism against Indigenous peoples and their rights. It calls on the Canadian government to withdraw RCMP presence from Wet’suwet’en territory and to release all land defenders and accomplices arrested and detained for the legal right to defend their land.
The document for solidarity reads: “Our world sits on a precipice, with oceans rising and more extreme weather now the norm, with white supremacy, xenophobia, and corporate greed continuing to oppress and dispossess people, and with stories of difference and scarcity upheld as justification for cruelty. It doesn’t have to be this way. This world is built, on purpose, and we can un-build it, together.”
Image: Andrea Sadowski/The Cascade
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
