Protests supporting a small band of Indigenous activists in B.C. continued across the country Tuesday – with CN Rain threatening to close down major sections of their tracks..The protests – demanding a stop to construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline – have been stepped up in the wake of the RCMP raiding and removing the protesters’ main camp, near Smithers B.C..In a statement, CN said blockades in Ontario and B.C. “are impacting all Canadians’ ability to move goods and enable trade..““There are currently no movements of any trains, freight or passenger, at both those locations. Hundreds of trains have been canceled since the blockades began five days ago. The impact is also being felt beyond Canada’s borders and is harming the country’s reputation as a stable and viable supply chain partner.”.CN said unless the blockades are cleared, the company will be forced to close “significant parts of its Canadian network imminently..“We are currently parking trains across our network, but due to limited available space for such, CN will have no choice but to temporarily discontinue service in key corridors unless the blockades come to an end, said JJ Ruest, president and chief executive officer of CN..On Tuesday night, Via Rail announced they were cancelling passenger service in central Canada through Thursday..Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called the protests “eco-colonialism,” adding people are projecting their own environmental views on Indigenous people..In B.C., hundreds of protesters blocked access to the Legislature in Victoria..In Calgary, Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters the government was extremely concerned about the blockades..“We are concerned because this has an effect on the transportation of goods by train across the country and those trains in some cases are not being able to operate as they normally do because of the blockades,” Garneau said..On Vancouver Island on Monday, a citizen who removed part of a blockade was arrested by the RCMP..The pipeline has the support of all First Nations along the route, but hereditary chiefs of Wet’suwet’en Nation, through which 28% of the 670-km route passes, oppose it..A group of unelected hereditary chiefs had set up a camp near Smithers and have kicked out Coastal GasLink workers..The RCMP said they have found traps like felled trees and three stacks of tires along with flammables along the access road..On Jan. 7, 2019, RCMP arrested 14 protesters along the B.C. logging road. .International attention was drawn to the issue when a British newspaper reported RCMP were ready to shoot protesters when they broke up the camp. The RCMP denied the story..On Dec. 31, the B.C. Supreme Court granted CGL an injunction against members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation from blocking the pipeline route near Smithers, B.C..But the situation has been further complicated after an Jan. 3 indict by the Unist’ot’en, a smaller group within the First Nation, that they intend to terminate an agreement that had granted the company access to the land..The RCMP checkpoint had been set up at the 27-km mark of the forest service road “to mitigate safety concerns related to the hazardous items of fallen trees and tire piles with incendiary fluids along the roadway.”.The $6.6 billion pipeline, to be operated by TC Energy Corp, would transport gas from near Dawson Creek in northeast B.C. to Kitimat on the coast and supply Canada’s largest liquefied natural gas export terminal, called LNG Canada, which is under construction..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter: @Nobby7694
Protests supporting a small band of Indigenous activists in B.C. continued across the country Tuesday – with CN Rain threatening to close down major sections of their tracks..The protests – demanding a stop to construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline – have been stepped up in the wake of the RCMP raiding and removing the protesters’ main camp, near Smithers B.C..In a statement, CN said blockades in Ontario and B.C. “are impacting all Canadians’ ability to move goods and enable trade..““There are currently no movements of any trains, freight or passenger, at both those locations. Hundreds of trains have been canceled since the blockades began five days ago. The impact is also being felt beyond Canada’s borders and is harming the country’s reputation as a stable and viable supply chain partner.”.CN said unless the blockades are cleared, the company will be forced to close “significant parts of its Canadian network imminently..“We are currently parking trains across our network, but due to limited available space for such, CN will have no choice but to temporarily discontinue service in key corridors unless the blockades come to an end, said JJ Ruest, president and chief executive officer of CN..On Tuesday night, Via Rail announced they were cancelling passenger service in central Canada through Thursday..Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called the protests “eco-colonialism,” adding people are projecting their own environmental views on Indigenous people..In B.C., hundreds of protesters blocked access to the Legislature in Victoria..In Calgary, Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters the government was extremely concerned about the blockades..“We are concerned because this has an effect on the transportation of goods by train across the country and those trains in some cases are not being able to operate as they normally do because of the blockades,” Garneau said..On Vancouver Island on Monday, a citizen who removed part of a blockade was arrested by the RCMP..The pipeline has the support of all First Nations along the route, but hereditary chiefs of Wet’suwet’en Nation, through which 28% of the 670-km route passes, oppose it..A group of unelected hereditary chiefs had set up a camp near Smithers and have kicked out Coastal GasLink workers..The RCMP said they have found traps like felled trees and three stacks of tires along with flammables along the access road..On Jan. 7, 2019, RCMP arrested 14 protesters along the B.C. logging road. .International attention was drawn to the issue when a British newspaper reported RCMP were ready to shoot protesters when they broke up the camp. The RCMP denied the story..On Dec. 31, the B.C. Supreme Court granted CGL an injunction against members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation from blocking the pipeline route near Smithers, B.C..But the situation has been further complicated after an Jan. 3 indict by the Unist’ot’en, a smaller group within the First Nation, that they intend to terminate an agreement that had granted the company access to the land..The RCMP checkpoint had been set up at the 27-km mark of the forest service road “to mitigate safety concerns related to the hazardous items of fallen trees and tire piles with incendiary fluids along the roadway.”.The $6.6 billion pipeline, to be operated by TC Energy Corp, would transport gas from near Dawson Creek in northeast B.C. to Kitimat on the coast and supply Canada’s largest liquefied natural gas export terminal, called LNG Canada, which is under construction..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter: @Nobby7694
