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Letter Revealing BC Solicitor General Authorization of RCMP Deployment Released
- Joint Press Release -
RCMP vehicle photographed on Wet'suwet'en lands on
February 27, 2020, in contravention of agreement
that they would halt patrols during government
negotiations with Hereditary chiefs.
Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, the BC Civil
Liberties Association and the Union of BC Indian
Chiefs are releasing a letter dated January 27,
2020 from BC Minister of Public Safety and
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth to RCMP Deputy
Commissioner Jennifer Strachan.
In the letter, Farnworth declared a "provincial
emergency" under the Provincial Police Service
Agreement and explicitly authorized the "internal
redeployment of resources within the Provincial
Police Service." Article 9 of the Provincial
Police Service Agreement stipulates that, if in
the opinion of the Provincial Minister an
Emergency in an area of provincial responsibility
exists, then the Provincial Police Service will be
redeployed at the written request of the
Provincial Minister and the province will pay the
costs of the redeployment.
 This explosive revelation of the BC
Solicitor General authorizing additional RCMP
resources and redeployment comes on the heels of
repeated statements by the provincial government
that they lacked jurisdiction or authority over
RCMP actions in Wet'suwet'en territories. On
January 20, Premier John Horgan was reported as
saying "Our government has no authority to vary
that injunction, nor to direct the RCMP in the
fulfillment of its responsibilities." On February
10, Horgan again stated, "Governments do not
direct the courts, nor do we direct the RCMP."
According to Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief
Na'Moks, "The province bears responsibility for
the heavy RCMP deployment and for the policing of
our people on our own territories. In many of our
discussions, the province was passing the buck for
RCMP operations but this letter spells it out in
black and white. The provincial government can no
longer deny responsibility for the Indigenous
rights and human rights violations happening on
our territories. We have come to the table with
respect and truth but the province is not
demonstrating respectful or truthful conduct. We
have always asserted our laws and presence
peacefully, yet the province authorized the extra
deployment of RCMP against us. Canada and BC must
answer to this mistruth and absolutely must change
its ways."
"It is incredibly troubling and shocking that the
provincial government would declare the peaceful
assertion of Wet'suwet'en law and jurisdiction as
a provincial policing emergency. The Wet'suwet'en
people and the people of British Columbia have a
right to know on what basis this unprecedented
authorization was made. It is inconsistent for the
provincial government to, on the one hand,
legislate the UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples as well as state
non-interference in policing operations and, on
the other hand, authorize a RCMP deployment aimed
at over-policing and criminalizing Indigenous
peoples on their own territories," says Harsha
Walia, Executive Director of the BC Civil
Liberties Association.
 Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the
Union of BC Indian Chiefs stated, "This letter by
Mike Farnworth reveals the blatant hypocrisy and
lies of the provincial NDP government on the
Wet'suwet'en crisis. Farnworth sat silently while
Premier Horgan unabashedly lied that the Province
did not direct RCMP actions. This is an act of
government deceit not only against the
Wet'suwet'en but of the public at-large. The
province's rhetoric about reconciliation rings
even hollower. We call for the immediate
resignation of Mike Farnworth for dishonourable
conduct and for declaring the Wet'suwet'en people
a policing emergency and a threat on their own
territories."
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 8 - March 14, 2020
Article Link:
Letter Revealing BC Solicitor General Authorization of RCMP Deployment Released - Joint Press Release
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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