Quakers, social justice and revolution

Discussions regarding RCMP on Wet’suwet’en territory

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

It sounded as though progress was being made regarding the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) leaving Wet’suwet’en territory. The widespread acts of solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en have had a major impact on rail travel and blocking ships from using the Port of Vancouver.

But then this message was posted on Wet’suwet’en Access Point on Gidimt’en Territory It seems the RCMP have not left.

Image may contain: one or more people, possible text that says 'Despite Bill Blair's statement that the RCMP have left the Wet'suwet'en Yintah, patrols continue harass and arrest/release supporters daily. The CISO detatchment at 29km remains. "Houston, BC" is also also Wet'suwet'en territory. This statement, made by the person who oversaw one of the the most brutal mass arrests in canadian history, does not satisfy the Hereditary Chief's demand to remove the RCMP from the territory. POLICE'

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says he’s hoping the RCMP’s offer to leave their outpost on Wet’suwet’en territory in northern B.C. will lead to the barricades coming down, as talks aimed at ending the rail blockades crippling the country’s rail network continue.”I’m very hopeful that that will satisfy the concerns that were raised,” said Blair ahead of a Thursday morning cabinet meeting.

“I believe the time has come now for the barricades to come down.”

CBC News has obtained a copy of a letter sent Wednesday from RCMP Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Strachan to the hereditary chiefs offering to move the RCMP’s temporary detachment from near the protest site to the nearby town of Houston — as long as Morice West Forest Service Road remains clear. The RCMP confirmed that letter was sent.

“As always, we encourage dialogue over enforcement with a goal of a long-term solution,” Strachan wrote, while asking for a meeting “in the near future.”

It’s not clear yet whether the hereditary chiefs will meet with federal and provincial government representatives. Earlier this afternoon, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said she had not heard back from the chiefs on whether they will accept Strachan’s offer.

The RCMP, which acts as the provincial police service in B.C., moved in to enforce a court injunction earlier this month after the Wet’suwet’enhereditary chiefs and their supporters blocked construction of the $6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline project. The B.C. Supreme Court issued an injunction in December authorizing the police to clear away the protesters who had blocked access to the public road.

B.C. RCMP say they’ll leave outpost on Wet’suwet’en territory if road is kept clear. Hereditary chiefs have said they won’t meet with government officials until the RCMP leave. Catharine Tunney · CBC News · Posted: Feb 20, 2020

An RCMP division liaison officer talks with four-year-old Dante Belanger at a camp in support of the Unist’ot’en and Wet’suwet’en people near Houston, B.C., on Wednesday, January 9, 2019. (Chad Hipolito/Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet huddled in Ottawa this morning to chart a path forward as Indigenous-led rail blockades hit their two-week mark Thursday.

“We’re working very hard to end the blockades. It’s an unacceptable situation,” said the prime minister ahead of a meeting with his cabinet on Thursday.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Quebec Premier François Legault have accused Ottawa of being too slow to act on the illegal blockades. Trudeau has agreed to take part in a teleconference call with the Council of the Federation later Thursday.

“The government has been engaging directly with provincial governments since the very beginning of this situation. This evening, the prime minister will again engage with premiers … to continue working together toward a peaceful & lasting resolution,” a spokesperson for Trudeau said.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett sent a letter Wednesday offering to meet with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in Smithers, B.C., as early as today. That meeting is not expected to happen today.

This is the second offer by Bennett to meet in person with chiefs opposed to the Coastal GasLink project that has gone unanswered. A spokesperson for Bennett said the minister is willing to meet with the chiefs at any time and any place.

Trudeau calls blockades an ‘unacceptable situation’ as ministers wait to hear from Wet’suwet’en chiefs. Ministers’ offer to meet with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs goes unanswered. John Paul Tasker · CBC News · Posted: Feb 20, 2020

Myself and another Mom went to talk to the staff of our MP @Justin Trudeau yesterday, to share our support for the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and deliver a solidarity statement from our parent group For Our Kids Montreal. The staff spoke to us through an intercom and would not let us in to deliver it. They said we need to make an appointment or mail a letter. We had mailed a letter last September with our concerns about the climate crisis and have not received a reply. We will keep trying.
Natalie Caine

Image may contain: one or more people and text — Natalie Caine

Posted in civil disobedience, decolonize, Indigenous, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Leave a comment

Wake Up United States

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

I am so impressed and grateful for the nonviolent movement that is taking place in Canada today. It gives me hope that example will trigger a similar movement here in the US. We are already seeing that beginning to happen in Seattle, New York City and Des Moines.

The fundamental question now is whether we have the wisdom and courage to learn from the nonviolent revolution taking place in Canada? To connect with the Wet’suwet’en and bring their example to United States as well?

This as an opportunity to upend the status quo and build just communities for us all. The status quo is pushing us further and faster into environmental collapse.

The Wet’suwet’en people and their supporters are showing us the way.

Seize the day!

“The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time. They are kneeling with hands clasped that we might act with restraint, that we might leave room for the life that is destined to come. To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle.”
Terry Tempest Williams

Indigenous people in Canada are giving the world a demonstration of the power of nonviolent action. The justness of their cause — defending the land from those who would destroy it for short term profit and the elimination of a habitable climate on earth — combined with their courage and the absence on their part of cruelty or hatred, has the potential to create a much larger movement, which is of course the key to success.

SHUT DOWN CANADA UNTIL IT SOLVES ITS WAR, OIL, AND GENOCIDE PROBLEM, by David Swanson, Executive Director, World Beyond War, WorldBeyondWar.org, Feb 15, 2020

In so-called Canada, urban Indigenous organizers are re-energizing a decades-old struggle by redefining Indigenous sovereignty in the city streets.
We are inheriting the consciousness-raising staged through Idle No More, an Indigenous movement that spread from Canada to the US in 2013, and are pushing this movement further, making on-the-ground connections between culture, land, and sovereignty.
We are creating a new politics that honors the particularities of individual nations’ land relationships, cultures, and knowledges while also embracing urban Natives as people with political agency as well.
We are synthesizing the varied and diverse Indigenous sovereignty efforts into a movement that has the numbers, strategic alliances, and political vision needed to fight Canadian colonialism.
We are acting in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en frontline, and we are also saying: the colonial frontlines are everywhere.

Colonial frontlines in the city: urban Indigenous organizing by Natalie Knight, ROAR, February 1, 2019

In the early hours of February 6, militarized Canadian police began a five-day long assault on the unceded and sovereign territory of the Wet’suwet’en people in northern British Columbia to facilitate the construction of a fracked gas pipeline that lacks that nation’s consent.
Nine days later, Wet’suwet’en land defender Dinize Ste ohn tsiy tweeted that a heavy RCMP presence on Wet’suwet’en territory continues.
In response to this violation of the rule of law (notably the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), Indigenous peoples and allies took to the rails to demand that the RCMP and TC Energy Coastal GasLink, the company behind the controversial pipeline, remove themselves from Wet’suwet’en territory.
The Gitxsan blockade effectively shut down all activity at the Port of Prince Rupert, with more than 150 freight trains unable to move in or out of that port. Furthermore, 18 container ships in Prince Rupert and 48 ships in Vancouver could neither pick up or unload their shipments.
The Mohawk blockade resulted in the cancellation of all passenger travel between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal and CN shutting down its operations in eastern Canada.
Furthermore, Vancouver Island-based Mohawk scholar Gerald Taiaiake Alfred suggested this could even be a revolutionary moment.
He said: “I can remember saying 15, 20 years ago, that if we ever had a development in our movement where the power of Indigenous nationhood and Indigenous rights could be melded and brought together with the power of young Canadians who are committed to the environment and social justice, it would be revolutionary.”

Rail blockades are proving to be an effective non-violent response to state violence by Brent Patterson, rabble.ca, Feb 15, 2020

Indigenous youth Kolin Sutherland-Wilson speaks eloquently

Capital is a global phenomenon, and it moves over and through borders as such. The idea that we can’t show solidarity because we’re not in Canada is false. With the announcement that Canadian cargo has been re-routed to U.S. ports due to ongoing disruptions, we now know that this struggle can be opened up across the U.S.-Canada border, and beyond.
In solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en nation, all of the rail and port blockades across so-called Canada, and everyone taking to the streets. This is an important moment in anti-colonial struggle, and it will pass us by if we fail to grasp it.

BNSF Rails in Seattle Blockaded in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en, Rising Tide North America, Feb 18, 2020, cross-posted from Puget Sound Anarchists

“Hands off Wet’suwet’en! Hands off Wet’suwet’en!”
As the western sun sank into the Pacific, hundreds of voices echoed around the transit station at Commercial Drive and Broadway in Vancouver.
Hundreds of people again blocked a key intersection in this West Coast city, snarling rush-hour traffic and closing out the 13th straight day of nationwide solidarity actions in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their fight against the Coastal GasLink pipeline through their traditional territory.
“Justin Trudeau can put an end to this by ending the occupation of Wet’suwet’en territory,” organizer Alison Bodine shouted to the assembled crowd.
That rallying cry has turned a small police detachment on the Morice West Service Road outside Houston, B.C., into a critical bargaining chip as federal and provincial leaders try to broker a meeting with the hereditary chiefs and negotiate an end to the crisis.
One of the five Wet’suwet’en hereditary clan chiefs says he will not meet with the federal government until that detachment — indeed, all RCMP officers — are withdrawn from his clan’s territory.

Tensions mount as pipeline protests continue across the country by Jesse Winter, Canada’s National Observer, February 20th 2020

February has seen an explosion of Indigenous and non-Indigenous support for the current political struggle by the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their supporters. Again, we are seeing a ham-handed response of both orders of government, delivered in justificatory talking points to the media and enforced by the RCMP. Once again we have the police dragging Indigenous peoples off of their lands, in Canada, in the service of the settler state, which is as usual attending to virtually every relevant political interest – except Indigenous ones.
This is happening despite the rhetoric from federal and some provincial politicians about the need to transform their relationship with Indigenous people – even though that little matter of land theft continues. And Canada – in all its structural manifestations – continues its perpetual drive to eliminate Indigenous rights to land and self-determination, treating them as impediments to the national interest.

OPINION What is happening on Wet’suwet’en territory shows us that reconciliation is dead by GINA STARBLANKET AND JOYCE GREEN, TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Cricket Guest, an Anishinaabekwe Métis who demonstrated with Indigenous youth and climate change activists in Toronto on Tuesday, said disruption of traffic and business goods is “absolutely necessary” to bring attention to the injustices inflicted by the government and police on Wet’suwet’en in B.C.
“We’ve been resisting for 500 years and we’ll be resisting for 500 more if that’s what it takes to earn the respect and have a real nation-to-nation relationship,” Guest said.
“Reconciliation is dead and we will shut down Canada until Canada pays attention and listens to and meets our demands.”

‘Reconciliation is dead and we will shut down Canada,’ Wet’suwet’en supporters say. By Alex Ballingall Ottawa Bureau, The Star, Feb. 11, 2020

Posted in civil disobedience, climate change, decolonize, Indigenous, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Leave a comment

Need for solidarity action and pressure continues

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

Unist’ot’en Solidarity Brigade 2.19.2020

As indicated below, calls for Wet’suwet’en solidarity actions continue. I was contacted by organizers in British Columbia who were aware of our vigil in Des Moines on Feb. 7 and invited us to be part of a network for future solidarity actions, which I accepted. If you are interested in joining us at a future solidarity action, send me a message.
https://www.facebook.com/messages/t/jeff.kisling.3

The story about our vigil can be found here: Rise Up With Us.

Wet’suwet’en Solidarity, Des Moines, Iowa

While Trudeau and Parliament held talks today about the ongoing rail blockades and Trudeau called for “dialogue” Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs made clear that for meaningful talks to take place the RCMP need to leave their territory. Chief Woos told CBC “We’re not going to talk with guns pointed at our heads.” A delegation of Wet’suwet’en Chiefs are on the road to Mohawk territory today to thank the communities holding down the rail blockades in solidarity with their demands.

Reconciliation is dead. The events of the past week on Wet’suwet’en territories have been an extreme demonstration of colonial violence, approved in contravention of Wet’suwet’en, Canadian and international law.

There is still an extreme RCMP presence on Wet’suwet’en land. We expect them to heavily guard and facilitate CGL access to unceded territories without Free, Prior and Informed consent from the Hereditary Chiefs. The eviction notice to CGL given on January 4th, 2020 still stands and will continue to be enforced with the full power and jurisdiction under Wet’suwet’en law.

We encourage all supporters to stand strong in solidarity with this struggle. It is far from over.

We, as Wet’suwet’en, have never ceded our sovereign title and rights over the 22,000 square kilometers of our land, waters, and resources within our Yintah. Our ‘Anuc niwh’it’ën (Wet’suwet’en law) and feast governance systems remain intact and continue to govern our people and our lands. We recognize the authority of these systems. The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs are the Title Holders, and maintain the authority and jurisdiction to make decisions on unceded lands.

We have the strength of our ancestors within us. We have the solidarity of our Indigenous relatives and allies with us. We have the power of people shutting down railways, highways, ports, and government offices all around this country. Thank you to people all around this planet making our struggle your struggle. The flames of resistance and the resurgence of Indigenous land reclamation give us strength. We know our neighbours and relatives are with us. We know the two-leggeds and the four-leggeds are watching over us. These arrests don’t intimidate us. Police enforcement doesn’t intimidate us. Colonial court orders don’t intimidate us. Men in suits and their money don’t intimidate us. We are still here. We will always be there. This is not over.

Here is a list of solidarity actions around the world: https://www.facebook.com/events/594514121137249/

(From Gidimt’en Media Statement on Feb 12, 2020 and Unist’oten Media Statement on Feb 10, 2020)

* Wet’suwet’en Supporter Toolkit:
http://unistoten.camp/supportertoolkit2020/

* Movement Defense Legal Information:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JvbfEvay_RqOo3VAA-jsvDcATJq6e5iYuv1HqzzJi_M/edit?usp=sharing

#ShutDownCanada #WetsuwetenStrong

Yesterday Chief Woos, who’s territory is where the violent RCMP raid on the Gidemt’en Checkpoint took place, spoke to CBC about the current situation.

“the Minister is basically blowing air right now as far as were concerned. he put on his website that he was going to talk with the Wet’suwet’en chiefs in regards to Wiggus. on February 3ird and 4th he sent Scott Fraser to Smithers to talk to us. we were still open to that so we started talking to Scott, started to explain to him what Wiggus was and is and keeping in mind that we said Mr. Horgan you need to come and be part of this, instead he sent Scott Fraser with the stated attempt for us to agree to an access agreement for CGL which failed. We didn’t want that. With that CGL turned around and said to the police enforce the injunction and BC walked away.”

“We’re prepared to talk but we don’t want the RCMP in our territory.”

“As far as the economy and what is happening across the country… You see indigenous groups, the indigenous organizations out there. We’re facing third world situations all on account of your rule of law that is not being correctly handled by all governments.”

“If we’re going to be alongside the majority of Canadian’s as First Nations the first things that happens is Respect. Respect is the first thing that must happen.”

A protester stands between Mohawk Warrior Society flags at a rail blockade in Tyendinaga, near Belleville, Ont. on Sunday. The protest is in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. (Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press)

A trip east by four Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs to meet and thank the Mohawks of Tyendinaga behind a rail blockade in Ontario has thrown into doubt the timing of proposed talks with Ottawa and Victoria to settle the rail crisis.

The four Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs left B.C for Ontario Wednesday and there are plans for them to meet with the Mohawks of Tyendianga as early as tomorrow.

Hereditary Chief Na’moks told CBC News they will be landing in Montreal and stopping first in Kahnawake, a Mohawk community south of the city, before moving to Tyendinaga.

“It is only to thank them for their support, no more than that,” Hereditary Chief Na’moks told Radio-Canada in an email.

Wet’suwet’en chiefs’ planned meeting with Mohawk protesters could delay efforts to end rail crisis. The meeting could affect the timing of talks with federal, provincial ministers to settle the crisis by Jorge Barrera · CBC News · Posted: Feb 19, 2020

No Borders Media added 24 new photos to the album: When Justice Fails, Block the Rails! Photos from Tyendinaga, February 17 at 9:33 AM

Image may contain: one or more people, tree, sky and outdoor

Image may contain: 1 person, text and outdoor

Photos from #ShutDownCanada camps on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, on February 16, 2020.

No Borders Media was part of a small Montreal delegation that made a solidarity visit to Tyendinga yesterday to show support for the two camps beside the CN Railway tracks on their territory, effectively shutting down CN Rail operations in Eastern Canada, as well as VIA commuter rail service between Montreal/Ottawa and Toronto. Our delegation brought supplies of collected food, water, clothing and other important materials for people on the frontlines of #ShutDownCanada resistance at Tyendinaga, a disruption that has lasted 12 days, in defiance of a CN colonial civil court injunction.

Visitors from all over Ontario and Quebec have come to Tyendinaga to offer words of solidarity and support in person. During our visit, we met with people who visited from all over Southern Ontario, and as far as Manitoulin Island, in addition to people from Montreal and the Laurentians. Indigenous supporters have visited from all over Turtle Island.

Participants in the rail disruption at Tyendinaga remain well-organized and steadfast, an essential frontline in #ShutDownCanada efforts fighting for justice for Indigenous nations.

FRIDAYS FOR WET’SUWET’EN

SET UP MEETINGS WITH YOUR MLA UNTIL DEMANDS ARE MET

We need to use all the tactics at our disposal. In addition to office occupations we can fill up MLA’s meeting time and educate them on the Wet’suwete’n struggle until they take action.

MLA’s are open to meet with constituents on Fridays. Call them and book meetings every Friday until the demands of the Hereditary Chiefs are met.

Use this guide to set up your meeting and prepare to talk to your MLA.

While one MLA cannot remove the RCMP unilaterally they can all speak publicly and pressure their government to do the right thing!

Posted in civil disobedience, decolonize, Indigenous, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Leave a comment

Taylor Bachrach speaks at emergency debate in Parliament

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

Taylor Bachrach is the MP for the Skeena Bulkley Valley and has true relationships with the Wet’suwet’en. This is evidenced in his speech at the emergency debate today. He spoke words he has learned from our language and spoke of our hereditary system and our history of colonization

Taylor Bachrach
Tonight I spoke in an emergency debate in Parliament on the situation facing the Wet’suwet’en.
I know it’s been a difficult time for many across the Northwest. But what events in recent weeks tell us is that we cannot continue on with the status quo.
The only way out of this impasse is through dialogue, understanding and humility. We need to see nation-to-nation talks and that is why I again called on the Prime Minister to meet with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs.

Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, UBCIC https://www.ubcic.bc.ca and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association will hold a press conference tomorrow, Feb 20, 2020. Details below:

Occupy Canada Feb 17
BREAKING NEWS: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
An estimated 8,000 -10,000 people just SHUT DOWN and occupied major intersections of downtown Toronto along Bloor street in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders and water protectors!

Rueben George
OVER 20,000 PEOPLE at the BERNIE SANDERS RALLY.
My daughter KAYAH GEORGE is part of the welcome does a great speech, giving a shout out to We’suwet’en and Tsleil Waututh.

As police enforce a court injunction against two Indigenous camps standing in the way of a proposed B.C. pipeline, the authors of a new report say their research indicates the RCMP’s action against Wet’suwet’en land defenders will be neither fair, nor objective.

Jeffrey Monaghan of Carleton University and Miles Howe of Queen’s University outline in a new report published in the Canadian Journal of Sociology how RCMP assess individual activists according to political beliefs, personality traits, and even their ability to use social media.

The report says government and RCMP documents uncovered through access to information requests indicate the police are not assessing Indigenous protests in Canada based on factors of criminality but are more concerned about the protestors’ ability to gain public support.

It also shows the government’s risk assessments of Indigenous protests, court injunctions initiated by private corporations against Indigenous people, and RCMP policing tactics all favour corporate interests and private property rights over Indigenous rights and title.

This includes the current resistance by land defenders and hereditary chiefs to the Coastal GasLink LNG pipeline slated to run through unceded Wet’suwet’en territory.

Checklists developed by RCMP Director of Research and Analysis Dr. Eli Sopow as part of the National Intelligence Coordination Centre’s 2014-2015 Project SITKA reveal “it’s not criminality the RCMP are focused on, it’s the ability of that group to create and craft a counter narrative to the one that suggests whatever the police do is across the board legitimate,” Howe told APTN News in a phone interview.

RCMP concerned Indigenous rights advocates will gain public support: new study. New research shows Canada’s police force assesses the risk Indigenous activists and protesters pose to the nation — not based on factors of criminality — but based on their ability to summon sympathy from the broader populace. By Justin Brake, journalist at the Aboriginal People’s Television Network. This article was originally published on APTN News. Jan 16, 2019

https://www.facebook.com/events/507028520227094/

Posted in civil disobedience, decolonize, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Leave a comment

Kolin Sutherland-Wilson: Colonialism in Canada

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

The following are excerpts from: Why Kolin Sutherland-Wilson can’t stay quiet. UVic student’s week-long protest draws attention to movement against pipeline project in northwestern B.C. by Josh Kozelj, Martlet, Jan 22, 2020

It was not until 1997, following failed negotiations with the province, that the Supreme Court of Canada found B.C. had no right to extinguish the rights of Indigenous peoples to their traditional territory. It was made clear that it was the hereditary chiefs who have the authority and title over this land.

Kolin was four years old.

It’s now 2020, and as a natural introvert, Kolin would prefer to avoid the spotlight.

He describes himself as a “hermit,” and typically enjoys quiet time at home with his wife and cat. However, when he woke up last December and learned that the B.C. Supreme Court granted an injunction to stop Wet’suwet’en peoples and anti-pipeline protesters from blocking roads to a pipeline project on their traditional territory, he knew something had to be done.

After the hereditary chiefs called for a week of solidarity, Sutherland-Wilson decided to stage a solo week-long strike of his own outside the B.C. Legislature in support of the Wet’suwet’en peoples against the pipeline. He walked out during the first week of classes on Jan. 6 and was there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of that week.

Sitting in the NSU’s office in the basement of the Student Union Building, on an abnormally cold and snowy day in Victoria, Sutherland-Wilson gently clasps his hands together and stares straight ahead. The words “All Eyes on Wet’suwet’en” are written in big block letters on the whiteboard just over his right shoulder. He closes his chestnut-brown eyes for a few seconds, opening them to reveal weary tinges of red.

“Sitting on the steps was the least I could do, just to be a constant presence down there at the Legislature, just to be a constant reminder that what is happening is unacceptable and that B.C. has a duty to approach this nation-to-nation relationship in good faith and to not rely once again on the force of the RCMP like they did last year,” he says.

On Jan. 6, the first day of his week-long protest, Sutherland-Wilson published a video, “Colonialism in Canada: What is happening at Unist’ot’en?” to YouTube explaining the history of the Wet’suwet’en nation and why they continue to fight for their land.

This is the video Kolin published:

It’s the final weekday of his week-long protest at the Legislature, and Kolin is sitting on the front steps.

The weather is cold, and he’s there day until night, but it’s nothing compared to the snow, ice, and freezing temperatures that protesters are facing on Wet’suwet’en territory in northwestern B.C.

Hundreds of UVic students walked out of class on Jan. 10 to stand in solidarity with Sutherland-Wilson and the hereditary chiefs. They marched around Ring Road and met Kolin at the Legislature with signs and banners — shocking the student who originally planned to just be a single constant presence at the provincial building.

“When everyone came down and joined me at the Legislature,” he says before pausing and recollecting the moment. Sutherland-Wilson tears apart his hands from a clasped position, and begins to rub them along the length of his thighs.

“Just the fact they went down there to join me, and stand in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en … I think it really helped me fully communicate my purpose for being down there.”

He says a lot of his knowledge comes from his father and Elders in his home community, the same people who have been fighting this same struggle for generations.

It’s tiring and cold sitting on the steps of the Legislature for hours and hours on end, but Sutherland-Wilson says it’s his duty to follow his heart.

“Lives are on the line, people I love and know,” He says. “I don’t really have a choice but to make as much noise as possible, to try and get as much information out there as possible.”

There’s probably a million other places he would be — including quiet time at home with his wife and cat — but, like his father over two decades ago, he knows there’s still work that needs to be done.

Why Kolin Sutherland-Wilson can’t stay quiet. UVic student’s week-long protest draws attention to movement against pipeline project in northwestern B.C. by Josh Kozelj, Martlet, Jan 22, 2020

You can also hear Kolin speak on this video from the Sierra Club BC

Video of Panel with David Suzuki and Indigenous Youth for Wet’suwet’en Leaders Ta-kaiya Blaney, and Kolin Sutherland-Wilson.

Posted in civil disobedience, climate change, decolonize, Indigenous, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Tagged Indigenous youth | Leave a comment

Massive Support for Wet’suwet’en Peoples

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

From the Unist’ot’en Solidarity Brigade

Actions in solidarity with the demands of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs escalated through the weekend as Justin Trudeau canceled his Caribbean trip to campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council and held a meeting with Cabinet Minsters to “address infrastructure disruptions”.

New rail blockades went up in Toronto, Vancouver, Manitoba, Quebec, and Seattle, and mass actions (an estimated 8,000 people in Toronto!) shut down bridges, highways, politicians offices, and border crossings supporting the demands of the Wet’suwet’en chiefs.
The Teyendinaga Mohawks holding down the most disruptive and longest standing blockade have vowed to continue until the Hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en have their demands met.
Read this powerful letter to the Queen with Justin Trudeau, Cabinet Minsiters, and UN Officials CC’d from the Shatekarihwate family of the Mohawk Nation Turtle Clan.

Quote From Molly Wickham (Sleydo):
“Every morning I wake up expecting to hear the helicopters buzzing toward our territories carrying militarized RCMP with tactical weapons. The RCMP have not left Wet’suwet’en territory!!! They are continuing with their oppression despite having tactical teams out of sight. We are experiencing heavy surveillance and oppression.
I see the Indigenous youth in so called Victoria and Vancouver, the Gitxsan, the Haudenosaunee, and all the supporters from coast to coast.
I SEE YOU!
I see your struggle and love you! Keep going—we’re close! We are closer than we ever have been!
#standupfightback
#reconciliationisdead
#shutdowncanada
#wetsuwetenstrong

RCMP Occupy Wet’suwet’en land
Since RCMP violently invaded our territories, police have been monitoring and patrolling Unist’ot’en land 24 hours a day. RCMP continue to deploy from a police detachment on Gidimt’en territory that was built against the will of our Hereditary Chiefs.
Our chiefs’ demands to the Province remain unchanged:

We demand RCMP to stand down and get out of our territores.
We demand nation-to-nation talks to address longstanding violations of Wet’suwet’en Rights and Title.
We demand our right to free, prior, and informed consent be upheld.
We demand that the remote detachment (Community Industry Safety Office) established by the RCMP on Wet’suwet’en territory be immediately removed.
We demand that no force or lethal weapons be used against Wet’suwet’en people and our supporters, and that RCMP refrain from preventing Wet’suwet’en people and our guests from accessing our territories.
We demand that Wet’suwet’en people must not be forcibly removed or evicted from our own unceded territories.
We urge RCMP to respect Wet’suwet’en law, and to comply with recommendations made by the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), including the guarantee of our right to require Free, Prior, and Informed Consent for any industrial use of our territory.

RCMP OUT OF UNIST’OT’EN YINTAH.
#Wetsuwetenstrong #Unistoten
Supporter toolkit: http://unistoten.camp/supportertoolkit2020/
Legal fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/unistoten2020legalfund

“It’s ironic that the Canadian government would complain about being inconvenienced, when the Canadian Government starved our people to get a better deal in treaties.
Railways got really really rich on Indian land being expropriated and taken from us, and now they’re playing a small tiny price for all the profits they have made over the centuries.
We’re here to support the Wet’suwet’en Chiefs in their struggle. When they are satisfied, when they have come to an agreement with the government of the Canada they can say thank you for your support you can take down those barricades… that’s the solution. It could be solved today or tomorrow if they really wanted to.”

Interview with Keneth Deer, Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake Secretary

Sub.Media
February 15
Toronto Blocks the Rails On Saturday Feb 15th, around 50 people snuck onto some train tracks in Vaughan, Ontario (just north of Toronto) and shut down the second biggest rail yard in Canada. They were soon joined by a large crowd of supporters who helped hold down the blockade for the rest of the day.
#ShutDownCanada #WetsuwetenStrong #ReconciliationIsDead #RCMPOut

Thousands hit the streets of so called Toronto today in support of the Wet'suwet'en Nation's list of demands including the eviction of RCMP & Coastal Gas Link off their territory. support here: https://t.co/c7LKtOHkQu
follow @UnistotenCamp @Gidimten @smogelgem #WetsuwetenStrong pic.twitter.com/MYzFpX5I1i
— Occupy Wall Street with a General Strike (@OccupyWallStNYC) February 17, 2020

Happening now #ShutDownCanada in Seattle. Railroad tracks occupied for #Wetsuwetan these rails carry oil, coal, fracked gas to port of Vancouver, Seattle, West Coast #Wetswuetenstrong #shutdownnorthamerica #nofrackedgas pic.twitter.com/LwnGnOLrI2
— Matt Remle (@wakiyan7) February 16, 2020

Wet’suwet’en rally Ottawa. Right now. They’re marching to the PMs office. Trudeau met with his ministers earlier today.@APTNNews pic.twitter.com/Z1AzmA4R3W
— Jamie Pashagumskum (@JPashagumskum) February 17, 2020

The police just served an injunction to land defenders. The blockade has only been up since noon.
— Cam (@posters_think) February 17, 2020

Amber Lyn
February 16 at 6:19 PM

Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en in Niagara Falls, Ontario (blocking an international bridge at the so called “Canadian”/“American” border).

“You can’t compare temporary inconveniences and minor disruptions to the ongoing, 500-year legacy of colonialism and genocide.” – Ta’kaiya Blaney

Since the demonstration organizers had stated that media coverage was welcome as well as personal coverage encouraged for sharing/spreading awareness – I took these photos at the demonstration. That being said, if you appear in any of these images and wish for them to be removed do not hesitate to connect with me and I will take them down promptly.

Additionally, please feel free to share or use the images personally or as you see fit.
#ShutDownCanada #SolidarityWithWetsuweten

Image may contain: one or more people, tree, sky, basketball court, crowd and outdoor — Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en in Niagara Falls

Anishinabe shutting down the Rails in Manitoba today

Border Shutdown in Niagra Falls

Video of Panel with David Suzuki and Indigenous Youth for Wet’suwet’en Leaders Ta-kaiya Blaney, and Kolin Sutherland-Wilson

Canadian National Railway network has been paralyzed for more than a week by blockades in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en community, who opposes the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on their unceded territory. The Mohawk community of Tyendinaga has been blocking passenger and freight train traffic between Toronto and Montreal since February 5, and a railway blockade in New Hazelton, B.C. has forced the closure of the Port of Prince Rupert. Blockades in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en have since multiplied across so-called Canada as camps have been set up on the tracks at Kahnawà:ke, Listuguj, Halifax/K’jipuktuk, Diamond, among others.

“From Sea to Sea” Train Blockades, Colonialism and the Canadian Railways History

Posted in civil disobedience, climate change, decolonize, Indigenous, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Leave a comment

Ways to Support Wet’suwet’en Peoples

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

My friends at Seeding Sovereignty have asked for help with travel expenses so their story teller can go to Canada to offer support. Below is a Facebook fundraiser for that purpose. Thank you!

https://www.facebook.com/donate/182047613053180/2724316454317112/

On December 31, 2019, BC Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church extended Coastal GasLink’s injunction order from an interim injunction to an interlocutory injunction. Members of the Wet’suwet’en nation have been stewarding and protecting their traditional territories from the destruction of multiple pipelines, including Coastal GasLink’s (CGL) liquified natural gas (LNG) pipeline.

Hereditary Chiefs of all five Wet’suwet’en clans rejected Church’s decision, which criminalizes Anuk ‘nu’at’en (Wet’suwet’en law), and issued and enforced an eviction of CGL’s workers from the territory January 4, 2020. [Watch the eviction video]. On February 6, 2020, heavily militarized raids by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were launched in Wet’suwet’en Territory. These miliarized operations deployed dozens of RCMP along with tactical teams armed with assault rifles, snipers, helicopters and canine units.

As of February 14th, 4 violent raids have taken place in camps and villages where Wet’suwet’en people and their supporters have been monitoring and blocking traffic associated with the Coastal GasLink Pipeline (CGL). Among the raided camps was the Unist’ot’en Village, the longest standing Wet’suwet’en Village in the pipeline’s path. [Watch the Unist’ot’en Village raid video].

The forcible removal of Wet’suwet’en people and their supporters on behalf of the CGL project, part of the largest fracking project in Canadian history, has sparked nation-wide unrest leading to the closures of highways, railways, ports and government offices throughout the country. Twenty-eight people have been arrested in Wet’suwet’en Territory thus far, with dozens of arrests occurring elsewhere in the country. [Watch a recap video of 3 of the raids].

The Wet’suwet’en Nation has never signed a treaty or sold or surrendered their land to Canada and claims jurisdiction of 22,000 square kilometers, an area the size of New Jersey. The landmark 1997 Delgamuukw v British Columbia case affirmed Aboriginal title to unceded land. Wet’suwet’en people have been continuously policed for the past 13 months; the first 3 months of policing cost $3.6 million CAD.

This is not the first time the RCMP have violently raided camps on Wet’suwet’en territory. On January 7, 2019, militarized police who were deployed with authority to use “lethal overwatch” breached the gate at Gidimt’en Checkpoint and arrested 14 Land defenders including Molly Wickham, a Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief. [Watch the 2019 raid video].

Unist’ot’en Solidarity Brigade robertages@telus.net

Wet’suwet’en Access Point on Gidimt’en TerritoryFebruary 9 at 3:48 PM · Wet’suwet’en Yintah Invasion: Day 4February 9, 2020: Over the last 72 hours, the RCMP have invaded sovereign, unceded Wet’suwet’en territories and forcibly removed unarmed land defenders at gunpoint.

Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent by the federal government on behalf of TC Energy, a private resource extraction corporation, to remove the people from these lands making way for their Coastal GasLink project to export fracked gas.

The strength of our resistance has made the RCMP invasion slow and difficult. The solidarity actions from around the globe have shined a light into the darkness. Canada and the fossil fuels industries can no longer operate in the shadows when committing genocide against indigneous peoples. “Reconciliation” is the smokescreen intended to further dispossess the rightful inhabitants from their ancestral territories, and now the fog has been lifted. We remain undefeated.

Here are the arrest totals from the RCMP/CGL invasion on unceded Wet’suwet’en territories over the last few days:

6 arrested at 39km, Feb 6 (released with no charges)
4 arrested at 44km, Feb 7 (court date Monday in Smithers)
11 arrested at 27km, Feb 8 (including Legal Observers)

#WetsuwetenStrong#ReconciliationIsDead#alleyesonWetsuweten#shutdowncanada#unistoten#gidimten#landback

Gidimt’en Call to action: www.yintahaccess.com

Donate to Gidimt’en camp: https://www.gofundme.com/f/gidimt039en-strong

Wet’suwet’en Supporter Toolkit: http://unistoten.camp/supportertoolkit2020

Unist’ot’en Legal Fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/unistoten2020legalfund

“I SEE YOU! I see your struggle and love you! Keep going—we’re close! We are closer than we ever have been!” Molly Wickham

#StandUpFightBack #WetsuwetenStrong

JOIN A SOLIDARITY ACTION

“Every morning I wake up expecting to hear the helicopters buzzing toward our territories carrying militarized RCMP with tactical weapons. The RCMP have not left Wet’suwet’en territory!!! They are continuing with their oppression despite having tactical teams out of sight. We are experiencing heavy surveillance and oppression.

I see the Indigenous youth in so called Victoria and Vancouver, the Gitxsan, the Haudenosaunee, and all the supporters from coast to coast.

I SEE YOU!

I see your struggle and love you! Keep going—we’re close! We are closer than we ever have been!

#standupfightback
#reconciliationisdead
#shutdowncanada
#wetsuwetenstrong”

Lady Chainsaw, a Cree land defender, remains in jail for upholding Wet’suwet’en law and protecting Unist’ot’en territory. She will remain in police custody until a court appearance on February 21, 2020. #FREELADYCHAINSAW

Posted in decolonize, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Leave a comment

Quakers in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en People

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

Canadian Friends Service Committee has released a statement in support of the ongoing protests by the Wet’suwet’en Nation people and hereditary chiefs in opposition to proposed pipelines on unceded land. The statement includes that “The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms rights and related obligations to ensure that conflicts like this will not be addressed violently or militarily but rather resolved with negotiated solutions.” It is a reminder that climate change is a peace and justice issue.

**https://quakerservice.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CFSC-stands-with-the-Wetsuweten.pdf**

Canadian Friends Service Committee. CFSC stands with all Wt’suwet’en people, January 18,2019

https://quakerservice.ca/news/cfsc-stands-with-all-wetsuweten-people/

Bear Creek Friends of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) letter to John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia.

Iowa Quakers and others held a vigil in support of the Wet’suwet’en people, Feb. 7, 2020, Des Moines, Iowa

Also related to the climate is the following statement about the many consequences of the bushfires in Australia from Australia Yearly Meeting.

https://quakersandclimate.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/australiayearlymeetingletter.pdf

Posted in climate change, Indigenous, Quaker, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Tagged Australia | Leave a comment

A lesson for nonviolent action and against genocide

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

Kolin Sutherland-Wilson speaks eloquently

Climate Strikers hand mic to Indigenous Youth

Teen climate strikers with Our Earth Our Future chose not to speak from the stage at the BC Legislature today, and instead handed the mic to the Indigenous youth sitting in to support of the Wet’suwet’en people. The RCMP were attacking #Wetsuweten land defenders during that day’s #ClimateStrike, in an attempt to get a fracked gas pipeline built. #WetsuwetenStrong #FridaysForFuture

Indigenous people in Canada are giving the world a demonstration of the power of nonviolent action. The justness of their cause — defending the land from those who would destroy it for short term profit and the elimination of a habitable climate on earth — combined with their courage and the absence on their part of cruelty or hatred, has the potential to create a much larger movement, which is of course the key to success.

This is a demonstration of nothing less than a superior alternative to war, not just because the war weapons of the militarized Canadian police may be defeated by the resistance of the people who have never been conquered or surrendered, but also because the Canadian government could accomplish its aims in the wider world better by following a similar path, by abandoning the use of war for supposedly humanitarian ends and making use of humanitarian means instead. Nonviolence is simply more likely to succeed in domestic and international relations than violence. War is not a tool for preventing but for facilitating its identical twin, genocide.

Of course, the indigenous people in “British Columbia,” as around the world, are demonstrating something else as well, for those who care to see it: a way of living sustainably on earth, an alternative to earth-violence, to the raping and murdering of the planet — an activity closely linked to the use of violence against human beings.

Solidarity of the longest victims of western imperialism with the newest ones is a source of great potential for justice in the world.

But I mentioned the war-oil-genocide problem. What does any of this have to do with genocide? Well, genocide is an act “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.” Such an act can involve murder or kidnapping or both or neither. Such an act can “physically” harm no one. It can be any one, or more than one, of these five things:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

SHUT DOWN CANADA UNTIL IT SOLVES ITS WAR, OIL, AND GENOCIDE PROBLEM, by David Swanson,Executive Director, World Beyond War, WorldBeyondWar.org, Feb 15, 2020

Many of you know I have spent my life “defending the land from those who would destroy it for short term profit and the elimination of a habitable climate on earth” as it says above. One way was living my life without having a personal automobile. I have also sought and engaged with a variety of communities, in a number of ways, to try to get people to see the dangers of, and stop using so much fossil fuel.

As a Quaker my life has also been against violence and war. I turned in my draft cards during the Vietnam War. During the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline struggles I organized nonviolent direct actions and taught others how to participate in them.

We are in the midst of a new revolution, a nonviolent revolution.
Below is an amazing video of Nahko Bear performing solo at the Water Protectors Youth Concert Sept 8, 2016. He says the resounding message he hears during his travels is:

“Remember that nonviolent direct action is the way to a successful revolution. And that is a hard one, because they are so bad (chuckles). When they come at us you just want to hit ’em, you know? Just sit with that. I know it’s tough. They’re going to try to do everything they can to instigate you. But remember what we’re here for. We’re here to create peace for our Mother. We’re not here to create more violence.”
Nahko Bear

All this is my way of trying to say I am so impressed and grateful for the nonviolent movement that is taking place in Canada today. It gives me hope that the example of that revolution will trigger a similar one here in the US.

A fundamental question now is what are we, both in Canada and the US, fighting for? Where do we go from here? We should acknowledge Indigenous rights to deny building pipelines. But much more than that, we should see this opportunity to upend the status quo and build just communities for us all.

I’m of the firm opinion that a system that was built by stolen bodies on stolen land for the benefit of a few is a system that is not repairable. It is operating as designed, and small changes (which are the result of huge efforts) to lessen the blow on those it was not designed for are merely half measures that can’t ever fully succeed.

So the question is now, where do we go from here? Do we continue to make incremental changes while the wealthy hoard more wealth and the climate crisis deepens, or do we do something drastic that has never been done before? Can we envision and create a world where a class war from above isn’t a reality anymore?”
Ronnie James

To this day we have not come to grips with fundamental injustices our country was built on, the cultural genocide and theft of land from Native Americans, the enslavement of African Americans and the legal justifications of bestowing rights and privileges on white land-owning men. The consequences of these injustices continue to plague our society today. And will continue to impact us until we do what is necessary to bring these injustices to light and find ways to heal these wounds.
Jeff Kisling

Let’s use the example of #SutDownCanada to #ShutUSDown

#wetsuwetenstrong #ShutDownCanada #NODAPL #MniWiconi #RezpectOurWater

Posted in #NDAPL, civil disobedience, climate change, decolonize, Indigenous, Quaker, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | Leave a comment

#ShutDownCanada

Posted on February 15, 2020 by Jeff Kisling

People are shutting down one of the largest rail yards in Vancouver at Grandview and Hebb and plan to stay the night! Join them if you can! 2.15.2020

At its core, this week of rotating blockades and demonstrations across B.C. is the same conflict that has always existed in this province.
But it’s also different.
It’s the same because British Columbia’s political culture has long involved strikes and protests and civil disobedience, often meant to inconvenience, usually centred around rights and race and resources.
“These have happened before and they will continue to happen,” said Rod Mickleburgh, a longtime B.C. journalist who has written books on the labour movement.
“We’re so wired to cover the latest thing and perhaps boost it out of all proportion to its relevance … and people forget our history.”
But the demonstrations supporting the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline are different, because technology and social media allow the dispute to play out in real time to the entire nation, with a level of coordination among young Indigenous leaders never before attained.
“It seems like they’ve always been five steps ahead of law enforcement, five steps ahead of the politicians inside the legislature,” said Vyas Saran, a University of Victoria law student and policy researcher who acted as a legal observer at Tuesday’s legislature protest.
However, it’s also different, argues Ben Isitt — a Victoria councillor who participated in this week’s blockade of the legislature — because it’s a new type of coalition, less centred around traditional labour and more focused on younger environmentalists and Indigenous leaders.
“We’re seeing those two movements come together … giving more strength to this movement than some other ones we’ve seen in recent years,” he said.
Isitt, who wrote his PhD dissertation on the history of protests in B.C., also believes these demonstrators are willing to push the envelope.
“I was surprised to see, in terms of the depth of support … the openness to militant tactics, or to more non-violent civil disobedience that the young people demonstrated.”
But Khelsilem says it’s different because there’s a greater awareness around injustices faced by Indigenous people than ever before.
And a new generation of leaders might not take the same tactics as those before them.
“They’ve seen too much hypocrisy. They have too much history to draw on,” said Saran.
“They see that direct action is the only thing that works. It’s the only thing that gets them the goods.”

B.C.’s DNA is embedded in Wet’suwet’en demonstrations. It’s about privilege and power, race and resources, just as it’s been since Gold Rush days. by Justin McElroy · CBC News · Feb 15, 2020

At least 66 shipping vessels are stalled in British Columbia’s waters, according to the maritime shipping industry, as rail blockades continue in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs’ opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C.
Robert Lewis-Manning, president of the Chamber of Shipping of B.C., says Canadians will eventually notice consequences from the backlog.
“It will hit in the pocket book, it will hit in necessary supplies for key industries and it will take a long time to recover,” he said.
The vessels move commodities like consumer goods, food and raw materials between Canada and international destinations.
The Chamber of Shipping, along with the B.C. Maritime Employers Association and the B.C. Marine Terminal Operators Association, issued a joint statement Friday calling on the province and federal government to de-escalate tensions and remove blockades.

More than 60 shipping vessels stalled off B.C. coast due to rail blockades. Industries in B.C. are asking for provincial and federal governments to prioritize ending pipeline dispute. CBC News · Posted: Feb 14, 202

Western Canada's marine and waterfront industry is urgently calling on Federal and Provincial Governments to redouble efforts to de-escalate tensions and remove blockades of critical #supplychain infrastructure essential to Canadian #trade. See https://t.co/laVOQe25Vc pic.twitter.com/2qe2ysPPpJ
— Chamber of Shipping (@COSBCTweets) February 14, 2020

When All Else Fails… Wet’suwet’en Supporters Block the Rails
[From Sub.Media] In the week following the RCMP invasion of Wet’suwet’en territories supporters have risen up and #ShutDownCanada. Some of the most effective solidarity actions have come in the form of rail blockades that have paralyzed the national economy. Supporters have vowed to keep up the pressure until the RCMP leaves Wet’suwet’en territory and CGL adheres to the eviction handed down by the hereditary chiefs.
Featuring footage from Kit, Jesse & Real People’s Media – http://realpeoples.media
Music: Lee Reed
#WetsuwetenStrong#LandBack#RCMPOut

CBC News 2.15.2020
A new blockade in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs took place in Vaughan, Ont., on Saturday. Pressure is mounting on the federal government to end the rail disruptions.

Protesters walk down Granville Street in downtown Vancouver on Feb. 12, 2020. The protesters are standing in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. (Jonathan Hayward/CP)

As acts of protest and civil disobedience in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en land defenders cascade throughout Canada, the nation’s fainting couches are straining under the weight of so many concerned citizens and commentators who see these actions as unconscionable and dangerous threats to the rule of law. Responses critical of the resistance express worry about disruption: to the market, to order, to the smooth and privileged and unencumbered day-to-day lives we expect to live. Protest is meant to disrupt.
Protest is meant to bring a reality that lurks beyond the sight lines of most people crashing down in front of them. The Wet’suwet’en protests are doing just that. The Wet’suwet’en protests are working. And three cheers for that.
When resistance to the current order arises, citizens are put to the test. We are forced to reveal where our allegiances lie. What are we willing to support, or do, in the pursuit of rightness and justice? In the case of the Wet’suwet’en resistance to the Coastal Gaslink project, those who are blockading road and rail, preventing politicians from entering the B.C. legislature and other buildings, and those supporting them on air and online are calling public attention to the tensions, disjunctures, contradictions and injustices of a colonial system of governance. That system has been thrust upon Indigenous peoples; so too has the violence of a market and political orthodoxy that says energy projects will only go through with consent, while implicitly assuming and expecting that consent—even through unceded land, so much of which covers B.C.—from hereditary chiefs. It’s a put-up job.

OPINION The need for protest. When resistance to the current order arises, citizens are put to the test. We are forced to reveal our allegiances. What do we think is right and just? by David Moscrop, Macleans, Feb 13, 2020

Posted in civil disobedience, climate change, decolonize, Uncategorized, Unist'ot'en, Wet’suwet’en | 2 Comments