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Urgent: yesterday, the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) raided Wet’suwet’en territory — and arrested five Indigenous land defenders. [1,2] This is colonial violence – the latest instance of C-IRG using harassment, intimidation, and arrests to undermine the rights of Wet’suwet’en people who are protesting the Coastal GasLink pipeline being forced through their land without free, prior and informed consent. [3] In the days leading up to this raid, RCMP C-IRG were patrolling Wet’suwet’en traplines and cultural use areas, harassing and intimidating Wet’suwet’en members and disrupting constitutionally protected Wet’suwet’en cultural activities. [4] These acts are unacceptable – and they’ve been going on for years. Here are two ways you can take action in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders. If you’ve already taken these actions, stay tuned for more! Sign the petition to dismantle C-IRG: The Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) was created in 2017 specifically to police resistance to resource extraction in BC – with no limits on their budget, size, or jurisdiction. [5] For half a decade, C-IRG has been protecting the interests of destructive projects like fracked pipelines and old-growth logging. It faces “allegations of excessive force, illegal tactics, unprofessional behaviour, racism, discrimination and charter violations” and is currently under investigation by the RCMP’s federal watchdog. [6,7] But while the investigation gets underway, C-IRG continues to operate unchecked, violating Indigenous rights in order to make way for environmental destruction. [8] The RCMP is under the direction of federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, and BC Solicitor General Mike Farnworth. Will you sign the petition calling on them to dismantle C-IRG?
Take part in the Fossil Fools Day of Action: C-IRG aren’t the only ones that need to be held accountable. This raid came less than a week before RBC’s AGM, where millionaire executives in thousand-dollar suits will crow over how much money they’ve looted from toxic fossil fuels and violations of Indigenous sovereignty. [9] As the largest funder of fossil fuels in Canada, RBC is both enabling and directly benefiting from this targeted harassment and assault through their financial backing of Coastal GasLink. [10] That is why this Saturday, April 1, hundreds of people across Canada are rising up in their local communities for a coordinated national Day of Action to call out RBC for funding climate destruction and violating Indigenous rights. In the wake of these raids, we need to confront RBC with a flood of pressure — to show them their support for extractive projects that trample on Indigenous sovereignty is costing them their reputation. If you haven’t yet, find and join your local RBC action this Saturday, April 1.
If you can’t find an event near you, start your own! Even just one or two people protesting at a local RBC branch helps send a powerful message. Momentum is building. Together, we can turn the pressure up. In solidarity, Sources: |
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