On February 6, 2020, just before 5:00am, Canada’s federal police force violently raided camps established by the Indigenous Wet’suwet’en in Northern British Columbia.
Police smashed windows, dragged people out of vehicles, and attempted to prevent journalists from documenting the unfolding violence. Backed up with dog teams, assault rifles, and drones, officers threatened that anyone present gather their things and leave, or be arrested and charged with obstruction of justice. Red dresses, which hang in the camps to honor the nearly 2,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in British Columbia, were torn down.
The crime of the Wet’suwet’en? Defending their ancestral lands from the construction of the $6 billion Coastal GasLink Pipeline.
If built, the 400-mile pipeline, owned by TC Energy, would cut through Wet’suwet’en territory to bring fracked natural gas to northeastern British Columbia to a massive proposed liquid natural gas terminal. The project is being funded by big banks that have extended general corporate loans to TC Energy, underwritten bonds issued by the company, and facilitated the sale of company assets.
Under the governance of five chiefs, the Wet’suwet’en have never granted TC Energy their free, prior, and informed consent to build the pipeline. Furthermore, the Canadian government has violated Indigenous rights outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by granting the injunction order to raid the camp, ignoring the authority of Wet’suwet’en chiefs.
In an attempt to reoccupy their territory and oppose the pipeline, the community built four camps along a Forest Service Road. Since last Thursday, the federal police stormed through each camp one by one, enforcing a court injunction to force the Wet’suwet’en and their supporters out of the path of Coastal GasLink. So far, 80 people have been arrested.
For Indigenous Peoples in Canada, this treatment is nothing new. In fact, it’s the latest in a decades-long trend of the government prioritizing Canada’s rich oil and gas reserves at the expense of Indigenous lives and the environment – a continuation of colonialism. For example, this news comes at the heels at the court of appeals’ decision to move forward with the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline, and as the Alberta Tar Sands continue to unearth 2.6 million barrels of oil per day.
We at Global Greengrants Fund are outraged by the actions of the Canadian police, the massive financial support from banks that are funding the pipeline, and the atrocities being committed against Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and our shared planet.
We stand in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en today as they protect their sacred lands from oil exploitation.
The struggle of the Wet’suwet’en People can be felt around the world: speaking to a larger issue of the global reliance on fossil fuels while ignoring the rights of Indigenous and other historically marginalized groups. For example, Nigeria and Ecuador are emblematic of the devastation that oil extraction can have on local communities after careless spills and pollution. While these countries may be separated by thousands of miles, Indigenous activists within them are united in the global movement to fight back against big oil. We’re going to do everything in our power to help this movement achieve human rights and global environmental justice. Stand with us.
Photo: “drummers holding drums in drum circle – Wet’suwet’en Solidarity Event – Toronto Train Stopped at Dufferin Street and Bartlett Avenue in Toronto – Saturday, February 8, 2020”, by Jason Hargrove, is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0