RCMP Violently Remove Wet'suwet'en
In the middle of the night, the RCMP began aggressively raiding Wet'suwet'en traditional and unceded territories. This senseless violence was carried out under the watch of the Provincial and Federal Governments.
"Prayers for the Wet'suwet'en leadership and people, we are standing with you and we always will," stated Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer of the UBCIC. "We categorically reject the insulting notion that the Crown and RCMP did everything they could to prevent this. There are always options that can be taken by the Crown. It is never an option to have a pipeline go through the territory of the proper Title and Rights holders who have not provided their consent. Premier Horgan, we have to ask, why didn't you just go meet with the Hereditary Chiefs when you were invited, and stop this from happening? No schedule is too busy to accommodate a meeting that could have had major impacts on preventing the violence we are all now witnessing." Chief Don Tom, Vice-President of the UBCIC, concluded "Using armed force to take Indigenous peoples off their unceded and traditional territories against their will is not reconciliation, it is colonialism in all of its ugliness and hypocrisy. We are humbled and inspired by the resolute and unwavering commitment of the Wet'suwet'en people to defend their territories from a resource extraction project that will have dire impacts on their lands and waters and accelerate climate change. I repeat the wise words of Na'Moks, Hereditary Chief of the Wet'suwet'en, who stated 'we remain peaceful and respectful because we are on the right side of history.'"
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Grand Chief Stewart
Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian
Chiefs (UBCIC) stated, "We are in absolute outrage
and a state of painful anguish as we witness the
Wet'suwet'en people having their Title and Rights
brutally trampled on and their right to
self-determination denied. Forcing Indigenous
peoples off their own territory is in complete and
disgusting violation of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
which the Horgan government recently committed to
uphold through Bill 41, and which the Trudeau
government has also committed to uphold through
yet to be introduced legislation. Indigenous
rights are human rights and they cannot be ignored
or sidestepped for any reason in the world, and
certainly not for an economic interest. We call on
the RCMP to immediately stand down, and we call on
the Crown to immediately take responsibility for
ending this violence."
