Solidarity With Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs
NPPC Statement on RCMP and Coastal GasLink
November 21, 2021 - The No Pride In Policing Coalition (NPPC) expresses our love and solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, and all those aligned with them, who are facing violence and dispossession by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Coastal GasLink (CGL). We recognize this struggle as part of the broader fight for Indigenous sovereignty, land back, and environmental stewardship on the stolen territories known as Canada. We also honour the particular struggles of two spirit, queer, and trans Indigenous peoples, who continue to face particular forms of settler colonial violence, as stated in the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Final Report of The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The current use of the RCMP to move Wet’suwet’en people off their Yintah (traditional lands) is unconscionable, and continues a long history of such anti-Indigenous violence dating back to the North Western Mounted Police force. The fact that government officials and CGL have failed to secure consent for development without resorting to this violence speaks for itself.
Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs offered CGL an alternate route to the one the police are currently attempting to impose through violence, a route less damaging to the environment and less intrusive of traditional territories Wet’suwet’en. CGL refused, saying in part that the alternate route was too costly, and would require consultation with Indigenous nations it had not consulted.
The violence we are witnessing now is the result of a government and corporation who believe they can dictate the agenda, timelines, and methods of development. The same RCMP carrying out this violence has a pension stake in TC Energy, CGL’s parent company. While we understand that many Indigenous Nations, including many members of the Wet’suwet’en nation, do support CGL’s project, we can never support its development by force. The government’s actions are in contravention of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and they make a mockery of any claims to reconciliation, healing, or nation-to-nation relationships.
We honour the sacrifices being made across these stolen lands to oppose land theft and environmental plunder. We support the solidarity road and railway blockades at the Six Nations of the Grand River. We are grateful to Haudenosaunee land defenders who have been arrested with Wet’suwet’en people, and who continue to provide moral leadership, teachings, and support for our coalition’s work. We honour all those who have travelled to the Yintah in solidarity, including the journalists recently arrested by the RCMP.
The demands of the Hereditary Chiefs are clear and we support them: the immediate withdrawal of the RCMP and CGL from the area, the suspension of CGL operations, the dropping of all charges against all those the RCMP have arrested for defending the Yintah, and nation-to-nation talks with the government of British Columbia and Canada. These demands must be met in full, and we will continue to fight together with the Hereditary Chiefs to secure them all.
The Hereditary Chiefs have called for ongoing solidarity actions across so-called Canada, for advocacy to the federal and provincial governments, and for donations to their land defenders legal fund. They have asked us to spread the word of their ongoing resistance in our personal and professional networks, and through social media. We encourage everyone connected to NPPC to heed this call and act in solidarity with our friends at Gidimt’en checkpoint. All Out For Wet’suwet'en!
NPPC Contact: info@noprideinpolicing.ca
About The NPPC
The No Pride in Policing Coalition (NPPC) is an antiracist queer and trans group formed to support Black Lives Matter – Toronto and is focused on defunding and abolishing the police. We initiated the Pride Day 2020 Defund and Abolish All Police rally and teach-in of close to 3,000 people held at Nathan Philips Square, June 28, 2020 and the 600 person rally for defunding and abolishing the Toronto police held outside Toronto Police HQ on July 16, 2020.
Contact Us
For more info or media requests:
