Wet’suwet’en Gidimet’en clan Hereditary Chief Woos says their members are being denied access to their territory and is calling for a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
On Nov. 18 and 19, RCMP enforced Coastal GasLink’s injunction against blockading the roads hear Houston, B.C.
Police carried assault rifles to carry out arrests on land defenders.
In an online video, Wet’suwet’en Gidimi’ten Chief Woos apologized to the workers caught behind the blockades but says he gave CGL plenty of notice.
Woos is asking that Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan sit down and talk with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs to find a solution.
Narwhal photographer among 15 people arrested by RCMP near B.C. pipeline worksite
The RCMP have confirmed that a photographer and documentary maker were among 15 people who were arrested on Friday for breaching an injunction barring protesters from blocking an access road used by CGL pipeline workers.
While their names were not released by RCMP, lawyer Frances Mahon says photojournalist Amber Bracken and documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano, who has been behind the scenes on Wet’suwet’en territory, were arrested at the site and remained in custody as of this morning.
B.C. RCMP said 11 individuals were arrested at structures that had been erected along a road leading to a drilling site, including two who identified themselves as journalists following arrest. Four other people were arrested at a different location.
Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said all those who were arrested for breaching the injunction have been taken to Smithers, B.C., and are expected to appear in court on Monday in Prince George.
B.C.-based journalism outlet The Narwhal says Bracken was hired by them to report on the events unfolding in northern B.C., where Mounties have arrested Indigenous protesters who have blocked access roads leading to the pipeline worksite.
Editor-in-Chief Emma Gilchrist said in a statement that the publication is “extremely disturbed” by the arrest, which she described as a violation of Bracken’s charter rights and of press freedom.
With files from the Canadian Press
