Blockade continues at Hastings, Clark in support of Wet'suwet'en
Credit to Author: Postmedia News| Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 16:10:12 +0000
A port blockade in east Vancouver is continuing Tuesday morning in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs.
The intersection of Hastings and Clark remains blocked by anti-pipeline protesters on Tuesday, after gathering a day earlier. As a result, the nearby Clark Drive entrance to the port is also closed.
Vancouver police remain on site at the peaceful gathering, where participants had set up inflatable mattresses and beds overnight.
“We are demanding that the demands of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are met,” reads a post on the blockade’s Facebook page.
“The Chiefs’ demands are clear: construction on the Coastal Gaslink pipeline must stop; the RCMP must withdraw from Wet’suwet’en lands, and government, the RCMP and CGL must respect Wet’suwet’en law and governance.”
On Sunday, protesters had also briefly blocked a set of rail tracks near Venables and Glen, and on Monday, another blockade halted the West Coast Express.
Protesters, supporters of Wet’suwet’en Hereditary chiefs, march on Hastings Street on Monday.
Tuesday’s blockade builds off the momentum from weeks of public action and shows of solidarity for the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, who are fighting the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northeast B.C.
The $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline is set to extend from Dawson Creek to Kitimat, and has the support of 20 elected band councils along the route. Each of the councils has signed benefit agreements with the company ensuring proceeds that would help each band become less reliant on federal funding.
Wet’suwet’en hereditary house chiefs, however, say the pipeline cannot proceed without their consent, as they assert title over a broader 22,000 square kilometres of traditional territory that is crossed by the pipeline’s route, whereas the elected band councils control smaller reserve lands. Alternate routes were proposed by the clan chiefs but CGL maintained the alternatives were not feasible and would increase costs.
Court injunctions issued to Coastal GasLink order land defenders, supporters and protesters off the construction site so that work can continue, and these injunctions have been executed by RCMP officers in recent weeks, resulting in arrests.
CN Rail was also issued and injunction, after earlier rail blockades halted trains and shipments across the country.
More to come.