Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Horgan, Minister Marc Miller, and MLA Nathan Phillips,
We wish to voice our support for the Wet’suwet’en people’s nonviolent movement opposing the development of an LNG pipeline on their land, as well as call on you to order RCMP to stand down, drop all charges and release the land defenders and journalists, and ask government officials to meet with the Hereditary Chiefs.
Canada and British Columbia have enacted UNDRIP legislation and we call on you and your office to implement it immediately by respecting the Wet’suwet’en decision to oppose this project. They have never ceded their lands or given up their jurisdiction to their yintah as recognized by the 1997 Supreme Court Case Delgamuukw-Gisdaywa vs The Queen. We urge you to immediately uphold the UNDRIP provision of Free, Prior and Informed Consent in Wet’suwet’en territory with the recognized title holders their Hereditary Chiefs.
The Wet’suwet’en have asserted their jurisdiction and evicted Coastal GasLink as well as taken direct action on their territory. The forcible removal of their land defenders from their territory goes against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. The UN High Office Commissioner has written multiple letters to the Canadian state regarding their breach of the UNDRIP. Please heed the call of the Wet’suwet’en Chiefs, hear their concerns, and take decisive action against LNG development in the struggle to renew Canada’s energy sector and address the climate emergency. Future generations of Canadians will be thankful, as will your
constituents.