The Wet’suwet’en Nation is opposed to a fracked gas pipeline crossing their territory in British Columbia without their free, prior and informed consent.
To assert their sovereignty over their territory and stop surveying and construction activities related to the pipeline, the Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation established two checkpoints on key roadways on their lands.
Today, CBC News will carry a story about an alternative route for the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which was proposed by the Office of the Wet'suwet'en.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church's recent court ruling cited several reasons for the company's decision to reject this, "including inappropriateness for the diameter of the pipeline, increased cost, the desire to avoid urban areas and greater adverse environmental impacts".
"What I hear back from communities and Indigenous peoples, when we talk about the rule of law, is that the rule of law for them has been time and time invoked to perpetuate what they believe to be historical injustices.”