Twelve Wet’suwet’en land defenders have applied to the Supreme Court of British Columbia to have criminal contempt charges stayed following RCMP raids in 2021.
“Society is rightly concerned with how a special unit of RCMP (C-IRG) acts with impunity, using racist language and violence against unarmed Indigenous women. Now it’s in the court’s hands to decide if this is still acceptable in 2023,” said Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham), spokesperson for the Gidimt’en Checkpoint and one of the 12.
They cite widespread Charter violations stemming from police misconduct as the reasoning.
The court applications allege an “abuse of process” and highlight the RCMP’s use of “disproportionate and excessive force” in November 2021.
In November 2021, RCMP conducted raids on the Wet’suwet’en occupation of the nation’s unceded territory.
RCMP were enforcing a Coastal GasLink injunction when they arrested land defenders and supporters. At the time, access was being blocked to Coastal GasLink worksites.
According to a Gidimt’en Checkpoint update posted that day, 15 arrests were made. Several were charged with criminal contempt for allegedly breaching the injunction to stay away from a Coastal GasLink construction zone.
However, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs said the company doesn’t have consent to cross their territory.
In an explainer, The Indigenous Foundation writes that “the pipelines violate Wet’suwet’en sovereignty and put both the land and women of the Wet’suwet’en Nation at risk.”
The project also goes against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — something both the province and federal governments support — by violating the community’s ability to provide free, prior and informed consent, the organization says.
A press release from the Gidimt’en Checkpoint Camp says “arrestees were variously denied their right to security of person, subjected to unreasonable search and seizure, arbitrarily detained and imprisoned, and denied reasonable bail without just cause.”
The claims are yet to be proven in court.
In February of 2020, a Memorandum of Understanding was reached between Canada, British Columbia and Wet’suwet’en that recognized that “Wet’suwet’en rights and title are held by Wet’suwet’en Houses under their system of governance” and “Wet’suwet’en aboriginal rights and title throughout the yintah.”
Despite this, the release continues, “the RCMP have repeatedly undertaken large scale, violent invasions of Wet’suwet’en traditional territories and have established a sustained campaign of surveillance, intimidation, and harassment.”
The Narwhal and freelance journalist Amber Bracken are also suing the RCMP over her arrest in covering the dispute between Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and Coastal GasLink Pipeline.
“The RCMP/CIRG’s enforcement tactics impaired the Applicant’s individual Charter rights, but the police misconduct also displays a systemic disregard for Indigenous rights and sovereignty and the Charter more generally,” the court filings read.
“The impacts of the manner of enforcement are not limited to the individuals arrested, but extend to the efforts at reconciliation between the Wet’suwet’en and the federal and provincial governments.”