NDP MPs press Singh to call on B.C. government to pull RCMP out of Wet'suwet'en territory
CBC
Three New Democrat MPs are putting new pressure on party leader Jagmeet Singh through a petition calling on him to demand that the B.C. NDP government and Ottawa pull RCMP officers out of Wet'suwet'en territory.
The petition, which has gotten over 1,000 signatures, urges Singh and the deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice to call on their B.C. counterparts to end the RCMP's operations protecting the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
CBC reached out to the signatories. MP Leah Gazan did not respond. MPs Lori Idlout and Matthew Green declined to comment, but publicly voiced support on social media.
"I join @LoriIdlout, @LeahGazan and all the undersigned in publicly denouncing the violence enacted against members of Wet'suwet'en First Nation by the RCMP, and call on the B.C. NDP provincial gov and Liberal federal gov to immediately withdraw the RCMP from Wet'suwet'en territory," Green tweeted.
The move places Singh in a difficult position — jammed between the wishes of many NDP members and his political need to avoid criticizing the only NDP government in the country.
In November, the RCMP arrested at least 29 people, including a Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief's daughter and two journalists, for breach of a B.C. Supreme Court injunction preventing any obstruction of work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
The $6.6 billion pipeline is designed to carry natural gas, obtained by hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — in northeastern B.C., to a $40-billion LNG terminal on the province's North Coast for export to Asia.
The project has the support of 20 First Nation band governments, but not traditional governments under the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs' leadership.
The Wet'suwet'en First Nation's elected leadership issued a statement condemning protests against the pipeline.
In November, the RCMP used tactical teams, helicopters and canine units in a two-day operation on a forest road near Houston, B.C., about 1,000 km north of Vancouver. It ended with officers using a chainsaw and an axe to break into cabins and make arrests.
It was the third time the RCMP had raided barricades on the same forest road in as many years. In 2020, the RCMP's actions sparked nationwide rail blockades and demonstrations.
On Wednesday, Singh once again denounced the RCMP's actions but stopped short of calling for the RCMP to leave — and did not criticize B.C. Premier John Horgan.
"It's clear that we have been very vocal about the use of force of the RCMP," Singh said in response to a reporter's question.
"We were critical of the RCMP and the use of force for a long time, the use of force of police in general. We've been very concerned about that. We're very vocal about that, and we've been calling for changes in this. [The] Liberal government has done nothing to make those changes happen."
This story was originally published on May 28, 2024.
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