Rally from Oregon Water Protectors.
March 5th is an international day of solidarity with Indigenous protesters across Canada who have blockaded streets, bridges, ports, and national rail for almost two weeks, causing substantial economic impact and potential goods shortages — in response to a dispute between the pipeline company Coastal GasLink and the Wet’suwet’en Nation of northern British Columbia.
Chase bank is one of the biggest funders of the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline. We will be gathering for a peaceful, non-violent demonstration to show that we condemn the funding of fossil fuel pipelines on Sovereign Indigenous Land. This pipeline is in violation of Wet’suwet’en Law, Canadian Law, and International Law. The surveillance and violent arrests on Wet’suwet’en territory is unacceptable. The arrests of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs is unacceptable. We condemn these acts.
The recent negotiations between Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and Canadian ministers has resulted in an agreement that the United Nations rights of Indigenous Peoples will be honored. This recognizes the aboriginal title of the land and states that Indigenous peoples have a right to free, prior and informed consent for projects built upon their land. While this acknowledgement is a step forward, BC Premier, John Horgan, has stated that the Coastal Gaslink pipeline has the necessary permits and will move forward with construction. Free, prior and informed consent was never granted by the Wet’suwet’en for the construction of the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline, and therefore the permits should be cancelled.
While we await the negotiation response from the Wet’suwet’en Nation, this is not a time to turn our backs on them. We know that the Canadian Government will continue to attempt to force the pipeline through. We know things can escalate quickly. We do not want to see the Wet’suwet’en territory invaded by Coastal Gaslink workers, RCMP, and heavy, militarized surveillance. We do not want to see another “Standing Rock” on Wet’suwet’en territory. We demand the Canadian Government abide by its own laws and cancel all plans for the pipeline.
The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs continue to state that RCMP and Coastal Gaslink workers must stay off their land. They have stated clearly they are opposed to the construction of the pipeline through their sacred rivers. We stand in solidarity with them in their struggle to defend their rights, their land and sacred river.
We thank the Wet’suwet’en Nation, the Unist’ot’en Camp and all the Indigeous Youth Land Defenders for standing up to the Trudeau government and the fossil fuel industry. The world is watching and observing what true leadership looks like. The rights of the Wet’suwet’en Nation must be honored.
The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have filed a climate lawsuit, charging that Canada’s failure to adhere to the 2015 Paris climate agreement has subjected the Wet’suwet’en nation to climate suffering — including forest fires and lowered populations of salmon. They are calling on the Federal Court to declare that Canada is constitutionally obliged to meet international climate change targets. We ask the Canadian government to take these matters seriously, as we are all seeing the severe impacts of the Climate Crisis unfold around us.
We hope you can join us this Thursday and PLEASE DIVEST FROM CHASE BANK!!!!
Please look at the Wet’suwet’en Supporter Toolkit to learn about the Wet’suwe’ten and how you can respectfully show your support for them:
UPDATES ON THE WET’SUWET’EN:
WHO’S FUNDING COASTAL GASLINK? https://www.ran.org/the-understory/whos-banking-the-coastal-gaslink/?fbclid=IwAR1m1eRoSKvKgBA3F6SH5SaHU_Pk1t65Zzcpajf7gZo_Tsa5oFn9eX7msEE
