A crowd of about 30 people rallied in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people Tuesday afternoon at the Chilliwack courthouse.
Rally organizer Suzy Coulter said they were gathered at the Provincial Law Courts to recognize the International Day of Action in Solidarity with the five clans of Wet’suwet’en, who are trying to stop Coastal GasLink/Transcanada from building a 670-km natural gas pipeline through their territory.
“We are raising our voices in opposition to this kind of outrageous aggressive act against Indigenous people protecting their own lands,” said Coulter.
She was referring to the court injunction granted to Coastal GasLink in mid-December to proceed with the pipeline construction on unceded territory, which the five clans have said they oppose.
READ MORE: Arrests made for violation of injunction
“And me as a non-Indigenous, as a settler woman, I feel ashamed of what this government is doing. I feel ashamed to have something like this happening under my watch.”
The injunction called for the removal of any obstructions interfering with the Coastal GasLink project, and it gave protesters 72 hours to remove obstructions. Police said that did not happen, preventing Coastal Gaslink Pipeline Ltd. from being able to do any work in the area.
READ MORE: Police clearing pipeline protest
The pipeline is being built to transport fracked gas from Dawson Creek to the coastal Kitimat where the LNG Canada processing plant is located.
“This is a historic moment when the federal and provincial governments can choose to follow their stated principles of reconciliation, or respond by perpetuating colonial theft and violence in Canada,” Coulter added.
READ MORE: Most First Nations in northern B.C. support LNG pipeline, group says
@CHWKjourno
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.