Wet’suwet’en supports are blocking the railway in Vancouver Sunday as part of a series nationwide protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
The supporters are at Clark Drive and Venables Street and are blocking a major CN Railway line, in violation of court injunctions.
Sunday’s blockade is the latest in a series of actions in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose a 670-kilometre natural gas pipeline being built by Coastal GasLink through their lands in northern B.C. The pipeline is part of a $40-billion LNG export facility being built in Kitimat.
In a statement posted online, the supporters said court injunctions are being used “as a legal weapon” silence Indigenous people and remove them from their lands.
The group characterized the court injunctions, which so far have been granted to the Vancouver Port Authority, Coastal GasLink, CN Railway and against protests at B.C. government buildings, as “broad, vague and indefinite.”
The group described their actions as civil disobedience.
“We demand an end to the use of injunctions to repress Indigenous peoples,” the statement read. “Solidarity actions will continue until the hereditary chiefs’ demands are met.”
Black Press Media has reached out to CN for comment.
READ MORE: Blockades remain in place as Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs returning to B.C.
READ MORE: Stop checks, searches of Wet’suwet’en pipeline opposers unlawful: Watchdog
