Weekend rally held in Thunder Bay to support B.C. Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders
CBC
About 100 people took to the streets in Thunder Bay, Ont., over the weekend to march in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders.
Demonstrators carried signs reading "respect Wet'suwet'en land," "no RCMP, no pipelines" and "land back," as they chanted phrases like "hey ho, the RCMP has got to go."
The demonstration is one of many that have taken place in Canadian cities in recent weeks after the RCMP launched a multi-day raid in northern B.C. in mid-November.
Speaking to the crowd, two-spirit elder Ma-Nee Chacaby spoke in Anishinaabemowin before translating her remarks to English and thanking people for showing up in solidarity.
"We're helping our neighbours in the west, and some day this is going to happen to us, and we have to fight together," Chacaby said.
During the RCMP's operation nearly two weeks ago, police officers arrested 29 people they say breached a B.C. Supreme Court injunction. Police also cleared a barricaded forest service road west of Prince George.
A resistance camp had occupied a key work site since Sept. 25, halting Costal GasLink's plans to drill a tunnel on Wet'suwet'en territory for a multibillion-dollar pipeline to transport natural gas.
Police characterized the raid as a "rescue mission" of more than 500 Coastal GasLink workers, who the company said were unable to get food, water or supplies because of the blockage.
Coastal GasLink has signed deals with 20 First Nation elected band councils along the pipeline route, including from Wet'suwet'en territory, but has not won approval of the majority of hereditary chiefs.
Under traditional Wet'suwet'en law, hereditary chiefs are responsible for decisions regarding ancestral lands.
The RCMP raid marks the third time police have launched operations on the remote logging road against barricades erected by supporters of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, after similar moves in 2019 and 2020.
Police have been criticized for using excessive force and spending millions in their efforts to enforce court injunctions aimed at stopping people from blocking access on the key forest service road.
Lak Williams, a co-organizer of the Thunder Bay rally, said it was great to see so many people show up in support of "our Indigenous relatives" on the west coast.
"We do not accept the actions of the Canadian government," they said. "It's unacceptable and we have to come together and fight against that."
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