Somewhere between the sudden refusal of five anti-pipeline protesters to leave the B.C. legislature at 8 p.m. and their removal in handcuffs at 1:30 a.m. Thursday, there was a pizza party.
Takeout pizza may have been handed in a window from more than 100 people gathered to impede Victoria Police from arresting five of seven protesters who demanded and got a meeting with B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser on Wednesday.
This is what the peopleB次元官网网址檚 house has come to. Welcome to .
B次元官网网址� Jas Johal (@jasjohalbc)
Led by TaB次元官网网址檏aiya Blaney, a member of the TlaB次元官网网址檃min Nation on the Sunshine Coast who came to prominence as a child activist against the Northern Gateway oil pipeline in 2010, the protesters repeated their demands to tear up court injunctions, provincial environmental permits and more than $100 million in community benefit deals for the Coastal GasLink pipeline, under construction across northern B.C. from Dawson Creek to Kitimat.
B次元官网网址淲e stand against the man camps,B次元官网网址� Blaney broadcast on Facebook during the occupation of FraserB次元官网网址檚 legislature office. B次元官网网址淲e stand against police brutality.B次元官网网址�
The Facebook page and many other social media feeds delivered pleas for more people to arrive and support the blockaders, as security called in police.
UVic students and supporters pack up Thursday after confronting officers at the Wednesday night
B次元官网网址� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)
Blaney and hundreds of others were repeating slogans that have echoed outside the building since days before a cordon of mostly university students tried to shut down the B.C. NDP governmentB次元官网网址檚 throne speech on Feb. 11. Signs held up over the past month outside their growing tent camp used images and messages repeated across the country as roads and railways were blockaded: B次元官网网址淩econciliation is deadB次元官网网址� over an inverted Canadian flag, and the ever-present B次元官网网址淪hut Down Canada!B次元官网网址�
BlaneyB次元官网网址檚 version of events leading to the office occupation is directly contradicted by Fraser, who says he offered trust and respect to a small delegation, then was betrayed in a premeditated move to force a confrontation with police that would be beamed around the world.
B次元官网网址淎t the very end [of the meeting],B次元官网网址� Blaney told her audience Wednesday night. B次元官网网址淪cott Fraser said that he could not fulfill our very basic demand of standing in solidarity with WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n and with the Indigenous youth who have occupied outside of his office for the past 10 days, in standing against Coastal GasLink, because he said it was outside his jurisdiction.B次元官网网址�
Fraser says no such conversation took place. In fact the Coastal GasLink pipeline and LNG Canada export facility are entirely within B.C. jurisdiction, unlike the Trans Mountain oil pipeline that has run across the Alberta border to the B.C. Coast since 1954. The two projects are frequently confused by protesters, and some leaders intentionally conflate them by claiming the gas pipeline could be converted to carry oil.
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Fraser said he discussed with Speaker Darryl Plecas and the head of legislature security a request to allow seven protesters from the sprawling, smoky camp outside to come in for a meeting.
B次元官网网址淲e came to an agreement that we would allow a small contingent in, as opposed to going outside. It wouldnB次元官网网址檛 have been too productive I donB次元官网网址檛 think, with the bullhorns and such, to have a respectful dialogue,B次元官网网址� Fraser told reporters Thursday morning. B次元官网网址淭here was no discussion that because I failed to condemn the pipeline there was going to be an occupation.B次元官网网址�
The meeting was set for 45 minutes and lasted twice that long until 8 p.m. Fraser said it was B次元官网网址渞espectfulB次元官网网址� throughout, but there was no pizza provided by the province.
B次元官网网址淭hey asked for a few minutes to compose themselves before going outside,B次元官网网址� Fraser said. B次元官网网址淚 guess thatB次元官网网址檚 not what they were planning to do when they asked for that few minutes.B次元官网网址�
PlecasB次元官网网址� assistant, Alan Mullen, was on the scene until the five were arrested for mischief and carried away to waiting police vans. Mullen noted that the raucous crowd outside held police at bay and then delayed their exit until after 1 a.m., leaving the rest of Victoria with few police resources for the evening.
The occupiers boasted on social media after they were released from custody in the early hours of Thursday morning, banned from re-entering the legislature grounds as charges were prepared for Crown counsel consideration.
Between the hours of 4:30-6am, all 5 Indigenous youth were released from police custody. They have been banned from the BC Legislative Precinct. This colonial government cannot handle the truths that Indigenous youth bring to the doorstep.
B次元官网网址� Indigenous Youth for WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n (@IY4wetsuweten)
B次元官网网址淭his colonial government cannot handle the truths that Indigenous youth bring to the doorstep,B次元官网网址� said a Twitter post with a posed picture of four of the five arrested.
Premier John Horgan has at times been visibly upset about B次元官网网址渢he mob outside,B次元官网网址� as he termed the crowd Thursday morning, and the siege of the legislature that tried to stop Lt. Governor Janet Austin from delivering the Speech from the Throne to launch the governmentB次元官网网址檚 spring legislative session.
Fraser said he used the meeting to describe the NDP governmentB次元官网网址檚 efforts at Indigenous reconciliation, which include being the first North American jurisdiction to enact a law to uphold the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Fraser described the efforts of he and federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett to reach an agreement with a group of dissident hereditary chief over the pipeline, which is approved by elected councils in all five WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n communities and 15 others along the pipeline route.
B次元官网网址淭he pipeline is permitted,B次元官网网址� Horgan said Wednesday. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 being built. ItB次元官网网址檚 being built by Indigenous people to a great degree, and the benefits are well known and well established.B次元官网网址�
What's happening in the Wet'suwet'en story is the result of a carefully laid media strategy. But why take it from me when you can hear pressure group architect Molly Wickham describing how the press is being played.
B次元官网网址� Stewart Muir (@sjmuir)
Facts have had little effect on the protesters during the sporadic, month-long occupation of the grounds. In the throne speech cordon, which prevented outside ceremonies but didnB次元官网网址檛 disrupt the speech itself, students stopped MLAs, staff, interns and reporters from going in and out all day. They screamed B次元官网网址淪hame! Shame!B次元官网网址� in everyoneB次元官网网址檚 faces, including B.C. Green Party MLAs who had provided the three votes opposed the Coastal GasLink project.
Visitors got similar treatment if they ventured onto the grounds after dark during the past two weeks, when the building was closed to the public and even children taking part in Pink Shirt anti-bullying day ceremonies had to be escorted in the back entrance.
Chad Day, elected president of the Tahltan Central Government in northwest B.C., has had his own resource battles with governments, notably stopping coalbed methane drilling at the headwaters of the Nass, Skeena and Stikine Rivers.
arriving at the legislature and being warned away by legislature guards. He then walked closer to look at the B次元官网网址済arbage and dirty clothes,B次元官网网址� only to be confronted by a woman and then two masked men who told him to get educated on Indigenous issues.
Day asked which of the clearly divided WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n people he was supposed to support.
B次元官网网址淚f youB次元官网网址檙e not standing here with us and part of the resistance, you need to leave,B次元官网网址� he was told.
Day replied: B次元官网网址淭he resistance? Are we in a Star Wars movie right now?B次元官网网址�
Day left, noting on his Facebook page that the protesters need a group of B次元官网网址渟trong female WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n elders thatB次元官网网址檒l put a verbal whipping on these young people and set them straight.B次元官网网址�
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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