Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Wet'suwet'en Protests and Blockades in BC


DonLever

Recommended Posts

Seeing that many protesters are radical environmental groups and students How does a protester survive and put food on the table every night? They block access to common people trying to get to work who’s taxes pay their way through life. And it’s pretty hypocritical to fight global warming by burning tires and leaving a ton of garbage behind in a small community they don’t even live in. Way to go, they really are difference makers .

  • Thanks 2
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

No joke.  Was reading statements about "our sacred land" then on the news seeing the Mohawks throwing burning tires on the rail road tracks.  

 

I'm First Nations.  But damn...the glaring hypocrisy is kind of insane

Saw a picture of a people having a fire next to a track, in the picture also was a massive jacked up Dodge Ram truck.

 

Not blaming ppl driving trucks for the environment (I have a truck) but it was a funny visual for ppl opposing a pipeline & standing up for the environment

  • Cheers 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel bad for the cops.

They're over worked and understaffed. Now there are injunctions in place at a lot of these sites so the public expects them to be enforced. Leaving the cops to play whack a mole around the country or else face ridicule and pressure.

Tough situation, when they are sent in to arrest and remove blockades they need lots of resources, manpower, staging areas etc.. only to have another group pop up somewhere else.

These protesters are doing a good job for the amount of numbers they have, very strategic. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Smashian Kassian said:

Saw a picture of a people having a fire next to a track, in the picture also was a massive jacked up Dodge Ram truck.

 

Not blaming ppl driving trucks for the environment (I have a truck) but it was a funny visual for ppl opposing a pipeline & standing up for the environment

I don't care if people are on the left or the right.  The glaring hypocrisy is shameful.  I'm not suggesting climate protesters turn off their heat anymore than I am energy supporters stop breathing clean air or drinking clean water.

 

But gd, how can you say you're standing up for the environment and your land when you're lighting tires on fire and throwing them everywhere 

  • Thanks 1
  • Cheers 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

I feel bad for the cops.

They're over worked and understaffed. Now there are injunctions in place at a lot of these sites so the public expects them to be enforced. Leaving the cops to play whack a mole around the country or else face ridicule and pressure.

Tough situation, when they are sent in to arrest and remove blockades they need lots of resources, manpower, staging areas etc.. only to have another group pop up somewhere else.

These protesters are doing a good job for the amount of numbers they have, very strategic. 

Unfortunately for them, it is also playing in to the belief that they are in fact paid protesters.  Hard to believe that they can make bail and be back on a line they've sat at for a week without deriving an income.  

 

I for one don't subscribe to those theories but I certainly can't look at them and think some arguments don't have visible merit

  • Cheers 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Violator said:

Global has coverage of the vpd moving the blockade from the port of vancouver.

 

They suck these days i was hoping for more night sticks water cannons and pepper spray.

If the cops did use violence then that would play into the hands of the protestors and they will use that narrative as a propaganda tool.

 

The cops are really caught in the middle as they are just doing their jobs.  They enforced the laws they don't make it.   But as frontline  workers they bear the brunt of protestors ire.

 

 

 

  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, DonLever said:

If the cops did use violence then that would play into the hands of the protestors and they will use that narrative as a propaganda tool.

 

The cops are really caught in the middle as they are just doing their jobs.  They enforced the laws they don't make it.   But as frontline  workers they bear the brunt of protestors ire.

 

 

 

yeah I feel for the police and 1st responders that have to deal with these people. Its thankless, and takes away from real need elsewhere.

 

I'm not sure  I actually know anyone that supports these protests (other than some online characters). Whats really sad to me is a handful of hereditary chiefs, who may be using this for their own agenda's, are not doing what the majority of their people want, and the result of that is increased racism and anger across the country. Its just so stupid and a waste of time. 

 

 

Edited by Jimmy McGill
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, DonLever said:

If the cops did use violence then that would play into the hands of the protestors and they will use that narrative as a propaganda tool.

 

The cops are really caught in the middle as they are just doing their jobs.  They enforced the laws they don't make it.   But as frontline  workers they bear the brunt of protestors ire.

 

 

 

This is why we need hired non government goons to do this type of work

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said:
"There are no neutrals now, you'll either be with the people or be a thug for the F******g crown"

 

Yikes. 

meh, I don't have to be framed by their argument. I'm for everyone getting an opportunity to obtain a good life for their families. 

  • Like 1
  • Cheers 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Ryan Strome said:

Kenney announced that Bill 1, to be tabled after the throne speech, will create “stiff” penalties for anyone who “riots on or seeks to impair critical infrastructure” such as railways. 

You better beware that bill.

 

Critical infrastructure literally means ANYTHING from health care centres and schools to highways like Yankee Valley Boulevard or the Deer foot, museums etc.  A lot of people in heath care sounding off over that declaration wondering what it would or could mean to striking health care workers picketing hospitals in the future in Alberta.

Edited by Warhippy
  • Cheers 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Second chief speaking in favour of the pipeline

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-second-wetsuweten-hereditary-wing-chief-voices-concerns-about/?fbclid=IwAR0nl_OAfo19YBWRTaT21WUJV5gzZAYt606fRYZoj3BejXV6GyIDwxCIh1g

 

A second Wet’suwet’en hereditary subchief is denouncing the hereditary leaders at the heart of the dispute over the future of the Coastal GasLink LNG project in Northern British Columbia.

“These five so-called hereditary chiefs, who say they are making decisions on behalf of all Wet’suwet’en, do not speak for the Wet’suwet’en,” Gary Naziel said. “They are neither following nor abiding by our traditional laws. They are changing them to suit their own purposes, to benefit themselves,” he told The Globe and Mail.

In doing so, Mr. Naziel adds, many hereditary chiefs and matriarchs are being disrespected, bullied and targeted. This echoes what Rita George, a hereditary subchief and expert in Wet’suwet’en law, said on Thursday. Mr. Naziel, from the Laksilyu (Small Frog) Clan who was groomed for leadership from birth, says the Wet’suwet’en name “is being dragged through the mud and used by other First Nations across Canada to wage their own battles.”

The Globe was unable to reach any of the five hereditary chiefs who have been vocal in their opposition to the project cutting through Wet’suwet’en territory.

The Wet’suwet’en Nation is organized into five hereditary clans and 13 houses, or subgroups. Each of those subgroups has the position of house chief, also known as head chief, and secondary leaders known as subchiefs, such as Mr. Naziel.

 

A growing movement of hereditary chiefs is considering taking action against the five men, possibly by blockading the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, a non-profit society governed by hereditary chiefs, which is known locally as “the OW,” he adds.

 

Mr. Naziel says he is coming forward in an attempt to “restore” the Wet’suwet’en legal system: “I am speaking out because they are changing our system. I find myself forced to go to media to try to save it.” Doing so causes him great pain, he adds: “Our elders taught us to be quiet until we are asked to speak. When you do, you weigh your words. You speak from the heart.”

“Many, many of us feel this way. More will come forward. Not in anger, but in trying to bring out the truth. We need to keep our system alive the true way. We have sat back long enough.”

Beyond bloodlines: How the Wet’suwet’en hereditary system at the heart of the Coastal GasLink conflict works

The heavy machine operator with Kyah Resources Inc. also spent eight years as an elected band councillor with the Witset, the largest First Nation along the pipeline route. This includes the period when the community signed a benefits agreement with Coastal GasLink.

All 20 elected band councils along the route, including five elected Wet’suwet’en councils, reached benefit agreements with Coastal GasLink. Those councils were created under the Indian Act and have authority over federal reserves, the small land parcels set aside under the act.

Many Wet’suwet’en leaders and community members, however, maintain that they have jurisdiction and authority over 22,000 square kilometres of traditional territory that sits in the middle of the pipeline’s path. The territory has never been ceded and is not subject to a treaty.

While the governing principles of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and its hereditary chiefs are anchored in their own cultural traditions and recognized in major court cases, there are disagreements over how those systems work in practice.

Mr. Naziel says he felt the need to speak up because their customary legal system is being subverted by the five leaders who have been communicating with media on behalf of the Wet’suwet’en.

“Our governance system is in the feast hall. These five chiefs are making decisions at the OW office. They do so without consulting their hereditary [subchiefs]. This makes them dictators.”

Customary law stipulates that they “must take direction from their subchiefs and their matriarchs,” Mr. Naziel said. “They do not. That is not our system of governance.”

“I have taken direction from my matriarchs and my clan in coming forward. I only speak for my clan. I cannot speak for other clans.”

 

Others share Mr. Naziel’s concerns.

Marion Tiljoe Shepherd is a member of the Witset First Nation. She is of the Gilseyhu (Big Frog) Clan, and a member of the Unist’ot’en (Dark House). Ms. Tiljoe Shepherd owns a trucking company in Houston, B.C. She traces her lineage to her grandmother, who served as Knedebeas, chief of Dark House. Her mother is a shareholder of a trap line near the pipeline route where police have twice raided protest camps.

She says the five hereditary chiefs who oppose the pipeline should be listening more.

“I don’t want to have to oppose them. But it’s not right what they are doing. They are not listening to their clan.”

Shirley Wilson (Big Frog Clan, Birch House) lives on the south shore of François Lake in the Skin Tyee First Nation, near the eastern boundary of Wet’suwet’en territory. Ms. Wilson initially opposed the pipeline, but has since come to see it as “an answer to the dilemma of poverty plaguing our people.”

“We are losing our cultural traditions over this pipeline battle. They are not following our traditions. They are not practising our real ways," she says of the five hereditary chiefs. "They are blending their own, modern perspectives, trying to fast-track the naming process. You have to earn your name.”

 

Mr. Naziel further says that lineage bars three of the five men from assuming the leadership roles they hold on behalf of the Wet’suwet’en.

“We are a matrilineal system. We inherit our lineage from our mothers. Alphonse Gagnon, Warner Naziel and Frank Alec are not from the Wet’suwet’en nation. [Mr. Gagnon] and [Mr. Naziel] are Gitxsan. [Mr. Alec] is from the Lake Babine Nation.”

This makes them “name holders,” not hereditary chiefs, he says. “Name holders cannot have any say for what happens on our territories. They cannot make decisions on behalf of the clan.”

Mr. Naziel’s name came from his great grandfather, Johnny David, who was chosen to be the first Wet’suwet’en chief to give evidence in Delgamuukw, the seminal 1997 Supreme Court case. Mr. David’s testimony helped prove that the Wet’suwet’en have stewarded the land for thousands of years and have a right to continue to do so.

Titles and land are passed through the mother’s clan, anthropologist Antonia Mills said in a 2019 affidavit submitted in court proceedings related to the Coastal GasLink project. A person born to a Wet’suwet’en woman is considered Wet’suwet’en.

Mr. Naziel also disputes the way that two of the men – Warner Naziel, who is his cousin, and Mr. Alec –assumed their leadership roles.

 

In 2015, Gloria George (Smogelgem), Darlene Glaim (Woos) and Theresa Tait-Day (Wi’hali’yte) helped form the Wet’suwet’en Matrilineal Coalition. They said they wanted to bridge the gap between hereditary governance and elected band councils. All three were subsequently “feathered” and stripped of their titles.

Last year, Mr. Alec replaced Ms. Glaim as Woos, head chief of Grizzly. In 2016, Warner Naziel replaced Ms. George as Smogelgem.

“They did not get their names the proper way. They took them,” Gary Naziel said.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

You better beware that bill.

 

Critical infrastructure literally means ANYTHING from health care centres and schools to highways like Yankee Valley Boulevard or the Deer foot, museums etc.  A lot of people in heath care sounding off over that declaration wondering what it would or could mean to striking health care workers picketing hospitals in the future in Alberta.

Well it does say riot or seeks to impair..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

Whoa whoa whoa Hip didn't you see this posted yesterday and KOS said he's only a "sub" chief and a "Heavy Equipment Operator" so he has no rights to speak on behalf of the band.  :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said:

Well it does say riot or seeks to impair..

So a convoy of truckers or farmers impairing people's ability to do business because they are protesting for whatever reason would fall under the same legislation?  Or does the legislation only apply to a bunch of leftist groups doing the protests?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...