B.C. human rights commissioner asks Canadian government to halt pipeline project
Credit to Author: The Canadian Press| Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2020 01:01:15 +0000
British Columbia’s human rights commissioner is calling on Canada to stop building a contentious natural gas pipeline until the affected Indigenous groups consent to the construction.
Kasari Govender says she believes Canada is shirking its obligations as a signatory to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Coastal GasLink is building a pipeline from northeastern B.C. to LNG Canada’s export terminal in Kitimat on the coast and has signed agreements with all 20 elected First Nation councils along the planned 670-kilometre route, but hereditary chiefs say the project does not have their consent.
The company says the project is approved, permitted and under construction today by more than 1,000 workers, including many Indigenous people from across the North.
I join CERD in urging Canada to immediately cease the forced eviction of Wet’suwet’en and #Secwepemc peoples, to prohibit the use of lethal weapons, and to guarantee no force will be used against them. This is a matter of fundamental human rights. 5/7
In a series of tweets, Govender also calls on the Canadian government to prohibit the use of lethal weapons and guarantee no force will be used against Indigenous protesters.
Neither the federal government nor the RCMP immediately responded to requests for comment.