Unist'ot'en Demands
Stop-Work Order
for Coastal GasLink
Pipeline
The Unist'ot'en House Group of the Gilseyhu Clan
is
demanding that Coastal GasLink Ltd.(CGL) cease work immediately
due to
non-compliance with BC Oil and Gas Commission (BCOGC) and BC
Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) permits and ongoing
violations of Canadian and Wet'suwet'en Law.
RCMP and the Conservation Officers' Service have
refused to
intervene in the destruction of active Wet'suwet'en traplines by
Coastal GasLink bulldozers in blatant violation of Section 46 of
the Wildlife Act. Unist'ot'en was told by the
Conservation Officers' Service this weekend [January 26-27] that
investigating
this ongoing crime is not a priority for their office. CGL
contractors have now completely bulldozed the section of trapline
at Camp 9A, with many traps unaccounted for.
In this
video
posted January 25, 2019, Unist'ot'en
member Brenda Michell
speaks to CGL contractors and the RCMP.
Under the conditions of EAO
and BCOGC permits, CGL is required to have completed a
site-specific
archaeological survey before undertaking any clearing work on the
proposed man-camp site in Unist'ot'en Territory known as Camp 9A.
CGL acknowledged in their injunction application that these
archaeological surveys have not been completed. The Office of
Wet'suwet'en and Unist'ot'en House Group have not received
evidence of these completed site-specific surveys, as is required
by the BCEAO and BCOGC. Due to the Unist'ot'en House Group's
prolific use of their territory since time immemorial, it is
critical that proposed work sites are properly assessed to
prevent destruction of historical encampments and artifacts or
gravesites.
The provincial EAO, FLNRO,
the BC
Archaeological Branch and the BCOGC have not
taken substantive action in response to Unist'ot'en and Office of
Wet'suwet'en requests for an immediate stop-work order to address
and investigate potential ongoing violations of the conditions of
their Environmental Assessment Certificate and their BCOGC
permits.
The CGL Environmental Assessment
Certificate also
requires CGL to notify all tenure holders in the area affected by
pipeline construction a full six months before undertaking any
construction activity that could impact their tenure. Chief
Knedebeas holds trapline tenure for Unist'ot'en territory, and
was notified by CGL that site clearing and construction on Camp
9A would not begin until 2020.
Earlier this month, under the threat of police
violence,
Unist'ot'en Chiefs reached an agreement with the RCMP to comply
with CGL's temporary injunction. That agreement states that
"there will not be any RCMP interference with our members
regarding access to the territory for the purposes of trapping
and/or other traditional practices." In violation of this
agreement, RCMP have threatened Wet'suwet'en trappers with arrest
for attempting to access their traplines, and warned healing
centre patients that they could be arrested for participating in
ceremony. RCMP escorted CGL into active work zones, while
refusing to allow or facilitate access of Unist'ot'en members to
attend the ceremony and check on the safety of participants who
were beyond the active workzone. CGL workers have been citing
breach of the injunction and demanding healing centre clients
remove small branches and minor debris from the road way while
they were collecting firewood, without causing any obstruction to
CGL work. Clients have identified feeling unsafe as a result of
continual RCMP presence outside the healing centre and the
unwarranted, confrontational conduct of CGL work crews.
Quotes from Freda Huson, Unist'ot'en House Group
Spokesperson
"We honoured the terms of the injunction, even
though
we
weren't given enough time to mount a proper defence at the
injunction hearing. We honoured all the terms of the agreements
we've made with the RCMP since the enforcement order came
down.
"We are witnessing police break all of the
agreements
they
have made with our chiefs, watching them actively protecting CGL
and its contractors as they violate the Wildlife Act and the
conditions of their permits, and watching the agencies
responsible for enforcing these conditions do nothing. We opened
our gates assuming that everyone would be treated equally under
the law. We see that the RCMP, the EAO, the BCOGC, and the
NDP-Green coalition government have no intentions of enforcing
any part of the Canadian law that causes any inconvenience to
this rich, powerful corporation.
"Coastal Gaslink is breaking all their own
Canadian
laws
while we are upholding Wet'suwet'en laws and responsibilities to
the land."
Supporting Documents
See attached supporting documents, including
permit
conditions and photos of Camp 9A site and destroyed trapline.
Traplines are culturally significant markers of continued use,
and are a source of furs and sustenance. The location of this
photograph documents the destruction of the trapline by CGL on
Unist'ot'en Territory. The Unist'ot'en House Group
of the Gilseyhu Clan holds title to a large area in Northwestern
British Columbia. The company, CGL is attempting to
build a fracked gas pipeline without the Hereditary Chiefs'
consent.
CGL's destruction of trap lines on Unist'ot'en territory, January
27,
2019. (M.
Toledano)
1. TransCanada
Notice
re:
Ancillary
and
Multi-Use
Sites
#9A
and
B.
2. Unist'ot'en
Letter
to
BC
Oil
and
Gas
Commission
(BCOGC) re: Occurring Violations of BCOGC,
Environmental Assessment Office
Permits for Camp 9A and Section 7 of Proposed CGL Pipeline,
January 25, 2019.
3. Condition
of
Environmental
Assessment
regarding
Trapping.
Media Contact: Freda Huson Email:
tsewedielh@gmail.com
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 3 - February 2, 2019
Article Link:
Unist'ot'en Demands
Stop-Work Order
for Coastal GasLink
Pipeline
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
