January 2020

​

The Prince George Public Interest Research Group (PGPIRG) stands in solidarity with the people and the Hereditary Chiefs of the sovereign Wet’suwet’en Nation.  We support their lawful right to Indigenous jurisdiction and governance on their ancestral territories, and we urge John Horgan’s government to do the same.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the federal government in 2010 and passed unanimously in B.C. legislature only months ago.  The UNDRIP states that Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands and that no relocation shall take place without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Indigenous peoples concerned.  The declaration also states that Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use, develop, and control the lands, territories, and resources that they possess by traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use.

However, the current situation on Wet’suwet’en territory is the antithesis of our country’s so-called era of reconciliation.  The actions of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the provincial government are not reflective of their commitment to the UNDRIP nor of their duty to act in the best interest of the peoples living in so-called British Columbia.

In solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation, PGPIRG echoes their demands for the provincial and federal governments to:

• Cease construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project immediately and suspend all permits;

• Respect the UNDRIP and their right to free, prior and informed consent;

• Withdraw the RCMP and associated security and policing services from Wet’suwet’en lands, in agreement with the most recent letter provided by the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s (CERD);

• Respect the Wet’suwet’en laws and governance system and abstain from using any force to access their lands or remove their people.

We urge the Province of B.C. to change their current course of action and to approach Indigenous relations with a radical commitment to justice, decolonization, and true peace.