RCMP confronted demonstrators while enforcing a court-ordered injunction Monday afternoon near Houston, BC.
The action took place as a result of an interim injunction order issued on December 14, 2018, against persons interfering with the $6.2-billion Coastal GasLink liquefied natural gas pipeline,
The entire $40-billion project would carry natural gas from the Dawson Creek area to Kitimat, while also supplying an estimated $23 billion in provincial revenue.
The injunction ordered the removal of any obstructions “created on the Morice River Bridge or the Morice West Forest Services Road” inhibiting access to the construction of the pipeline.
Members of the Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation set up a camp and a checkpoint in the area, southwest of Houston, to control access.
Early Monday, RCMP released a statement explaining that they would be enforcing the injunction on Monday and outlined what was to be expected “should the residents of the camp or other persons continue to disobey the court order.”
The statement noted there would would be an increase in police presence, with temporary exclusion zones being established and road closures taking place near Morice River Bridge.
“Those areas will be clearly marked and media/public are welcome to stand at the perimeter, but no one will be allowed to enter the exclusion zones. These zones will only be maintained as long as necessary,” the statement said.
In an email, RCMP stated that officers spoke with representatives of the Gidimt'en camp about the removal of the road block they had created along the Morice West Forest Service Road that resided within the court ordered injunction area.
RCMP say they met with Hereditary Chiefs and CGL with the intention to resolve the matter but were unable to find a solution. At 3 p.m. RCMP entered the blockade in an attempt to reopen the service road.
Police say 14 persons were arrested from the blockade for various offences, including alleged violations of the injunction order.
Police also noted disturbances made during the arrests.
"During the arrests, the RCMP observed a number of fires being lit along the roadway by unknown persons, and large trees felled across the roadway."
Several Unist’ot’en Camp social media pages documented the injunction as it occurred.
The post described the RCMP officers as approaching "armed, with military forces."
2:51pm: RCMP has breached gate and are advancing armed, with military forces #wetsuwetenstrong #notrespass #thetimeisnow
— Unist'ot'en Camp (@UnistotenCamp) January 7, 2019
RCMP said that Canadian Military were not present at the blockade, although "police officers, including members of Tactical Emergency Response Teams, have been deployed."
There were also tweets claiming that RCMP had jammed communication in the area, but police have stated that these claims were false.
The temporary exclusion zone remains in place.
A post on the Unist'ot'en Camp Facebook page stated among those arrested was Molly Wickham a spokesperson for the Gitimt'en clan, during the enforcement of the injunction.
Coastal GasLink has said it has project agreements with all 20 elected Indigenous bands along the route in the province.
However, demonstrators argue that Wet’suwet’en house chiefs, who are hereditary rather than elected band officials, have not given consent.
According to a new release issued on Sunday on behalf of Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, all five Wet’suwet’en clans oppose the construction of oil and gas pipelines in their territory.
“The provincial and federal governments must revoke the permits for this project until the standards of free, prior and informed consent are met,” Phillip says in the release.
Marches were planned across the nation on Tuesday to support members of the Gidimt’en clan who oppose the pipeline project.
With files from The Canadian Press
