I am appalled at the RCMP raids on the Wet’suwet’en/Yintah camp and the arrest of many who are defending their right to oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
This pipeline would carry fracked gas (i.e., methane), which is 84 times more potent a climate change driver than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period.
The BC government is in process of adopting Bill 41, which would harmonize B.C. laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Read more: Hundreds in Kelowna rally in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en First Nation
Read more: Penticton Indian Band stands in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en
Under Bill 41, the Crown government cannot unilaterally decide on what to do with the territories and homelands of Indigenous people who have never ceded control of their traditional territory. In fact, the Bill provides a mechanism to include Indigenous peoples as partners in decision-making processes.
The B.C. government should show that it is serious about respecting the rights of B.C.’s Indigenous people by withdrawing its support for the Coastal GasLink Pipeline and stopping the RCMP raids and arrests.
In so doing, the government would also demonstrate that it is serious about addressing the climate emergency which is quickly reaching crisis levels.
Anne Morris