Wet’suwet’en land defenders say B.C., federal inaction prompted enforcement of Coastal GasLink eviction

 

Wet’suwet’en land defenders and supporters say inaction from B.C. and Canada left them no choice but to enforce an eviction order against Coastal GasLink workers and deactivate road access to the project, a pair of measures that have prompted the provincial and federal governments to call for a peaceful resolution to the blockades.

“We were sending a clear message to the province, to Canada, and they weren’t acting on it — they weren’t hearing what we were saying — so we had to get a little bit louder,” Gidimt’en camp spokesperson Sleydo’ Molly Wickham told The Narwhal in an interview. “They’re destroying absolutely everything that is important to us in our territory. And they have been continuing to do work, despite the eviction order last year.”

The sole access route to Coastal GasLink project sites and work camps housing some 500 people was cut off after the company failed to act on an eviction order issued on Sunday. Tensions have been steadily escalating in Gidimt’en clan territory south of Houston, B.C., since September as the pipeline company began preparing to drill under the Wedzin Kwa (Morice) River.

Wickham, acting on the authority of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, occupied the drill site in late September and was there on Sunday to issue notice to company workers.

“This is an immediate evacuation order for all Coastal GasLink employees and subcontractors,” Wickham, speaking on behalf of Dinï ze’ (Chief) Woos of Cas Yikh House, announced over a radio from an occupation of the site where the company plans to drill under the Wedzin Kwa (Morice) River.

Wickham and supporters, acting on the authority of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, occupied the site in late September and tensions have been escalating since.  (more...)

Wet’suwet’en land defenders say B.C., federal inaction prompted enforcement of Coastal GasLink eviction

Gidimt'en Yintah Access