March 16 update: RCMP said Thursday the peaceful demonstration on Bigstone Cree Nation ended and the checkpoints were taken down.
Desmarais RCMP said Wednesday it was monitoring a peaceful demonstration set up by the Bigstone Cree Nation on two northern Alberta highways.
Members of the band set up two checkpoints to monitor traffic coming in and out of the area, RCMP said.
One is set up on Highway 813 north of Calling Lake by marker 71. The other is on Highway 754, about 12 kilometres west of Desmarais.
“The RCMP respects and protects the right to peaceful demonstrations as guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” RCMP said in a news release. “In circumstances where people gather peacefully to express themselves on an issue, a simple police presence can be enough to ensure order and protect the fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.”
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In a letter dated Feb. 20, the chief of Bigstone Cree Nation told Minister of Indigenous Relations Richard Feehan the band was preparing to install gates that would be manned by band members near the entrances to reserve lands.
“We have tried many routes of civil means to end the unjust enrichment of multi national corporations such as Canadian Natural Resources and Alberta Pacific Forest Inc.,” Chief Gordon Auger wrote.
READ MORE: First Nations blockade Alberta oilsands highway near Fort McMurray
He said the action was a unanimous decision by council but was not taken lightly and wasn’t their first choice.
“We would have preferred the oil/gas and forestry companies had honoured Bigstone Cree Nation’s offers of participation and mutual prosperity,” Auger said.
Bigstone Cree Nation said it is re-affirming its pre-Alberta treaty and aboriginal rights due to many reasons, including the abandonment of the local economy, the delayed transfer of treaty entitlement lands to the nation as well as water protection concerns.
Scroll down to read the full letter from Auger.
Auger said the band planned to install the “gateway structures” on March 12 and “all traffic related to the oilfield/forestry/mineral industry will be barred from entering without the express written consent of Bigstone Cree Nation.” He said the checkpoints would remain until the concerns were addressed.
Global News went to the checkpoint on Highway 813 just north of Calling Lake on Wednesday. There were no gates and vehicles were not being turned around or denied entry.
Letter to Richard Feehan, Minister of Indigenous Relations by Anonymous TdomnV9OD4 on Scribd
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