In a letter dated April 29 to the Canadian government, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights again condemned the continuation of major energy infrastructure in the province.
When I read the third letter of CERDI felt overwhelmed by the recognition that our experiences constitute violations of international human rights and Indigenous rights
Molly Wickham, a prominent figure in the Wet’suwet’en fight against the Coastal GasLink pipeline, said at a press conference Wednesday morning.
Molly Wickham, spokesperson for the Gidimt’en clan, which opposes the Coastal GasLink pipeline, in 2019.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Betsy Trumpener
In his letter, the CERD writes that according to his information, the governments of Canada and British Columbia have intensified their use of force, surveillance and criminalization of land defenders and peaceful protesters to intimidate, alienate and forcibly evict the Secwepemc Nations and Wet’suwet’en from their traditional lands
.
The committee specifically points to the practices of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and its Community and Industry Safety Response Group (CISC), responsible for providing strategic oversight of incidents in the energy industry.
Molly Wickham, also known as Sleydo’, says she has already been arrested twice during raids on ancestral Wet’suwet’en territory.
” The construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project and the processing of RCMP towards me and other land defenders are a violation of our humanity as indigenous people. »
Union of British Columbia Native Chiefs Secretary-Treasurer Kukpi7 Judy Wilson is using environmental issues to speak out against the construction of the pipelines, as the province has gone through atmospheric rivers, floods , forest fires and a heat dome.
These are the results of climate change caused by this type of project. We have to ask ourselves if this is the direction we want our government to take
she argued.
Kanenariyo Lefort of the Mohawks of Tyendinaga and Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief, Woos, at a press conference in Tyendinaga, February 2020.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rozenn Nicolle
As for the hereditary chief of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, Woos Frank Alec, he reiterated that his people will not give in: They push us, but we won’t move. […] We will protect water, wildlife and our way of life. We will never leave. We will not leave this behind for our children and grandchildren.
the CERD asks Canada to suspend the construction of the gas pipelines until obtaining the consent of the First Nations and calls for an investigation into the methods of the RCMPincluding the use of force.
He gave Canada until July 15 to respond to the concerns expressed in his letter.
With information from Wildinette Paul and François Macone
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca