A quick call to action

[sabotabby]

Five Land Defenders have been arrested in an RCMP raid on Wet'suwet'en territory. Here is a quick action that anyone can do: Call either a police station or a member of the BC NDP* to demand their release immediately.

Now, you may be a young GenX/old Millennial like me and absolutely detest using the phone. That is okay! These bastards have been getting phone calls all day and it's now after hours, so it's almost guaranteed that if you call them, it will go straight to voicemail and you won't have to talk to a person. There's a convenient script that you can follow, even if you're not good at saying things on the phone. It's easy.

Remember, Wet'suwet'en Land Defenders are fighting not just to defend their territory, but for all of our futures.

Call now. Let's free the Land Defenders and stop the RCMP raid on Gidimt’en Checkpoint.



* Yes, the so-called progressive party is trying to run a pipeline through unceded Indigenous land. You're not really that surprised, are you?

Comments

[redbird]

Do I have to pretend to be Canadian for this? (I'm willing to do that, and can even give them a street address in Montreal.)

[ioplokon]

curious about this as well - never sure if a us-ian calling in is helping or potentially damaging ('outside agitators' etc)

[frandroid]

This is a public pressure campaign, so international attention is welcome.

[redbird]

I managed a couple of calls, not seven or eight, but some is better than zero. It turned out that the script they give has "My name is" but not "I'm calling from $place," though it did ask for my zip/postal code.

[sabotabby]

It's helpful. Canada cares a lot about its international reputation.

[sabotabby]

Nope. "The whole world is watching" carries a lot of weight here.

[greylock]

This wasn't even on my radar, and I am switched on to projects like this.

We had Juukan Gorge, and the world shrugged.

Not to be pessimistic... but... At least it's not a tar sands pipeline.

[lynnenne]

Thank you for this!

[sabotabby]

Thank you for pitching in!

[greylock]

They are militarized, have no budget limit, and officers are paid huge sums to force pipelines, mines, dams, and logging through

Whilst I am sure they do actually have a budget cap (extended as required), a "Community Industry Response Group" is very much a WTF name.

I guess at least Shell hasn't hired "US contractors".

The National Observer, Canada's most trusted source for climate and indigenous news, apparently, says this is an “awesome, good projects” and can "help Canada reach its zero-emissions".

And it's VERY COOL they have secured a break on the British Columbia carbon tax, as well as the provincial sales tax. Because a struggling company like Shell, or Petronas, or Mitsui NEED help.

I don't have a dog in the fight but (a) I had no idea LNG Canada was going ahead, (b) the wiki page is strangely pro-corporate, and (c) the CoastLink pipeline page is far more balanced.

Needless to say, the best time to blow up a pipeline is yesterday and today, not tomorrow when it's filled and under pressure. Just saying.

[sabotabby]

Whilst I am sure they do actually have a budget cap (extended as required), a "Community Industry Response Group" is very much a WTF name.

The Feds are happy to bail out pipeline budgets that exceed their budgets.

It's interesting in that the propaganda isn't as strong about this as it has been for other incursions into Indigenous land. It's just so absurd. Only people in Alberta are for it and yet every government level is enabling it.

[greylock]

The Feds are happy to bail out pipeline budgets that exceed their budgets.

Jobs! Growth! See also how much ($400B+) we are paying for nuclear subs when, you know, health and housing and a million other things are stuffed.

Only people in Alberta are for it and yet every government level is enabling it.

My limited knowledge suggests the reason is that is where the gas is coming from. Because that explains it. BC and Ottawa will get kickbacks (and I suspect the promises of taxes, someday).

I'm just SHOCKED Alberta is taking a cautious approach to coal mining.

CBC.ca seems to suggest that some tribal groups were for it (I expect they're getting small remuneration and 0.xx% of the income), and some hereditary leaders not. So, as is always the way, they listen to the voices they want.

[sabotabby]

So there's a complicated situation where the band councils are bodies set up by colonialist authorities and the hereditary chiefs are the more traditional form of governance. Not to mention systemic underfunding of Indigenous communities that make the former desperate for the scraps that fall from the extractive feast.

[greylock]

As a subject of HRH King Charles, Third of his name, I can't abide hereditary structures of government, generally.

But, that that does explain the break with the councils.

Not to mention systemic underfunding of Indigenous communities that make the former desperate for the scraps that fall from the extractive feast.

As that newspaper said, there are some smaller scale native-run LNG projects, so they are gonna get theirs* while the planet burns.

(*They will get paid off pennies while others come in and do it all, and swipe all the funds, as is tradition in the extractive industries).

[frandroid]

Unfortunately Saskatchewan is now joined at the hip with Alberta in support of wanton fossil fuel exploitation, due to their own increasing projects, and probably accessorily due to their ow deep-seated anti-indigenous racism...

[redbird]

I got an email today, saying that the calls had worked and the Land Defenders have been released from jail.

[sabotabby]

Yes! Fantastic.