As the fallout continues from Monday’s RCMP enforcement of a court injunction against a First Nations anti-pipeline camp in northern B.C., the protesters are getting support from Hollywood.
Actors Ellen Page and Susan Sarandon are just two celebrities who have shown solidarity on social media with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and members who are protesting the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, taking particular issue with the RCMP’s enforcement on Monday of a court injunction against a camp set up by members of the Gidumt’en clan.
Page, a Canadian native, called the RCMP’s actions a “raid” and said it was another example of Canada’s “violence towards Indigenous peoples.”
“We must stand in solidarity with Unist’ot’en,” Page wrote on Twitter Tuesday, referring to another camp on Wet’suwet’en territory protesting the pipeline.
Sarandon, meanwhile, voiced her support for Tuesday’s “day of action” that saw First Nations and environmentalists hold multiple rallies across Canada in opposition to the RCMP’s actions at the camp.
“Standing in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation as they bravely put their bodies on the line to protect their unceded territory from the construction of a fracked gas pipeline in B.C. Canada,” Sarandon wrote. “Justin Trudeau, do the right thing. Put People before profits!”
Both posts were retweeted hundreds of times, with many people thanking the actors for shining a light on the issue.
Page and Sarandon, along with fellow actor Rosario Dawson who linked to a Twitter moment showing the various rallies across the country, have continued to share other people’s reporting on Monday’s RCMP action and the protests that have continued to be held around Canada this week.
Tuesday’s rally in Vancouver got a boost of star power when environmentalist David Suzuki joined in protesting the pipeline project, while also voicing his support for First Nations’ rights and title.
On Thursday, a deal was reached between RCMP and the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs that will see the Unist’ot’en camp stay erected while allowing Coastal GasLink to access the work site the camp was meant to block.
Fourteen people were arrested during Monday’s breakup of the Gidumt’en camp, all of whom were released from custody Thursday. They planned to return to the camp that same day.
—With files from Simon Little and the Canadian Press