Community-Industry Response Group not welcome on Gitxsan lands, say chiefs
Gitxsan hereditary chiefs issued a notice this week prohibiting the RCMP’s ‘militarized squadron’ called the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) from Gitxsan lands centred in the Hazelton area, effective immediately.
“While we embrace safety measures for our community, the militarized squadron of the RCMP [the C-IRG] funded to the tune of $50M, have been sent to terrorize our people at the barrel of a gun during peaceful protests and blockades,” the notice reads.
This systemic investigation will examine the governance, structure and operations of the RCMP "E" Division C-IRG—with a focus on authorities and accountability.
In this regard, the review will include a detailed examination of relevant RCMP policies, procedures, guidelines and training to assess their adequacy, appropriateness, sufficiency and clarity, in accordance with section 45.34(1) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act.
B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman will soon decide the fate of Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission Project — and possibly his government. First approved in 2014, the 48-inch pipeline would carry fracked gas across a complex patchwork of sovereign territories to a new LNG terminal on the coast.
Feb. 18, 2023 marked the one-year anniversary of Trans Mountain’s last construction cost update, when the price tag of the expansion project (TMX) ballooned to $21.4 billion — nearly triple the cost projected when Canada bought the embattled pipeline in 2018.
![‘The irony is that [the LNG Canada plant will] be BC’s largest source of pollution but will be paying less in carbon tax than regular British Columbians filling up at a gas station,’ says Sven Biggs, Canadian oil and gas programs director. Photo via Shutterstock.](https://ecosocialistsvancouver.org/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/article-image/lngfreighter.jpg?itok=_fyMDZ53)
