RCMP break through First Nation’s blockade
Checkpoint in protest of gas-pipeline project
The RCMP have breached a gate that a northern B.C. First Nation had erected to block access to a natural gas pipeline project.
Officers broke through a blockade on Morice River Forest Service Road, southwest of Houston, on Monday afternoon.
The checkpoint was one of two manned by members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation.
The first, which has been in place for almost a decade, includes a camp and gate that obstructs the Morice West forest service road and the Morice River Bridge.
The second checkpoint was put in place three weeks ago by the Gidimt’en clan to block the Morice River forest service road. This is the one that was taken down Monday.
The checkpoints are meant to keep workers away from the construction site for TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.’s $4.7-billion, 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Dawson Creek to a planned LNG Canada facility near Kitimat.
Members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation have long protested construction of pipelines through the nation’s 22,000 square kilometres of claimed traditional territory. They say such projects will jeopardize the area’s natural resources and restrict access to their territory.
An injunction issued last month by a B.C. Supreme Court justice, and revised last week, prohibits anyone from physically interfering with or impeding any person or vehicle trying to access the area or carrying on pipeline business, including pre-construction and construction activities. They’re also prohibited from threatening, intimidating or getting within 10 metres of anyone working on the project.
Police arrived in the area over the weekend and on Monday, headed to the Gidimt’en checkpoint.
When officers arrived at the checkpoint they were told that hereditary chiefs would need to be present and give consent for the barriers to be removed. A handful of chiefs were taken to the checkpoint around midday.
Terry Cunha, a spokesman for TransCanada, said the enforcement of the order was “taken as a last resort.”
Rallies are planned for Tuesday in 30 cities including Vancouver, Victoria, Chilliwack, Lillooet, Nelson, Cortes Island and Prince George — in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en.