First Nations leaders renew call to stop B.C. pipeline projects as UN raps Canada
Global News
Both pipelines have government permits and approvals from many elected band councils, but neither have obtained consent from all Indigenous peoples whose land they cross.
A group of First Nations leaders in B.C. are urging governments to stop two pipeline projects on unceded land, as a United Nations committee raps Ottawa again for failing to obtain their consent.
The Coastal GasLink pipeline and Trans Mountain pipeline expansion are under construction in Wet’suwet’en, and Secwepemc and Tsleil-Waututh territories, respectively.
Both pipelines have government permits and approvals from many elected band councils, but neither has obtained free, prior and informed consent from all Indigenous peoples whose land they cross, the leaders say.
“It is Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination and to be self-determining according to our laws, our traditional governance systems,” said Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham), spokesperson for the Gidimt’en Checkpoint, on Wednesday.
“The band councils are responsible for the reserve communities only in our territories and have recognized that themselves over the years.”
Gidimt’en is one of five clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, and the Gidimt’en Checkpoint has, for several years, guarded access to unceded clan territory — land that has never been surrendered to the Crown through treaties. It has, at times, blocked Coastal GasLink workers from accessing their construction site, going against a court-ordered injunction.
Representatives from the Wet’suwet’en Nation, Tiny House Warriors, Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade held a news briefing renewing their call for government intervention in both Coastal GasLink and TMX.
Last month, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination sent its third letter to Canada’s representative to the UN in Geneva, expressing grave concern about government approval and police enforcement related to Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink.