CHINA OIL&GAS SHIPMENTS KITIMAT:
RCMP to break up northern B.C. First Nation's pipeline checkpoints Monday
The police said they will be enforcing a court order that prohibits people from blocking access to a LNG pipeline construction site.
This photo from the Wet'suwet'en Access Point on Gidimt'en Territory Facebook page shows the checkpoint members of the First Nation have set up to restrict access to a liquefied natural gas pipeline construction site.
Members of the RCMP will enforce a court injunction on Monday and remove checkpoints that are blocking access to a liquefied natural gas pipeline construction site in northern B.C.
The checkpoints are on the Morice West and Morice River forest service roads, southwest of Houston, and were erected by members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation.
The first, which has been in place for almost a decade, was set up by the Unist’ot’en, a house group of the Gilseyhu clan. It includes a camp and gate that obstructs 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, and blocks the Morice River forest service road.
Officers arrived at the Gidimt’en checkpoint around 10:30 a.m., where they were told that hereditary chiefs would need to be present. The chiefs arrived shortly after noon, according to an update on the Wet’suwet’en Access Point Facebook page.
The checkpoints are meant to restrict access to a construction site for TransCanada’s $4.7-billion, 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline, which will deliver natural gas from Dawson Creek to a planned LNG Canada facility near Kitimat.
Members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, which is made up of five clans that have 13 houses, 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 are also prohibited from threatening, intimidating or getting within 10 metres of anyone actively working on the project.
In a statement posted online, the RCMP’s E Division said they will enforce that injunction — which allows them to remove obstructions and arrest anyone contravening the order — on Monday.
The RCMP have increased their presence in the Houston area and said they will use “a carefully measured and scalable approach to ensure the safety of everyone involved.”
“We are very hopeful that there will not be violence or disorder as we enforce the court order,” the statement said.
Temporary exclusion zones and road closures will be established in the area.
Those gathered at the two checkpoints on Morice River and Morice West forest service roads say they received confirmation from allies early Monday morning that a large number of RCMP officers were gathering in Houston and preparing to go to the checkpoints.
In a video posted on the Wet’suwet’en Access Point Facebook page, Molly Wickham, spokesperson for Cas Yex house, which is part of the Gidimt’en clan, said, “We’re doing everything that we can to make sure that we’re going to be safe.” She said it’s very cold at the checkpoint and people are struggling to stay warm.
Rallies are planned in 30 cities in Canada and the U.S. on Tuesday — including Vancouver, Victoria, Chilliwack, Lilooet, Nelson, Cortes Island and Prince George — in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en.
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