- cross-posted to:
- canada@lemmy.ca
- cross-posted to:
- canada@lemmy.ca
cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/6498963
About 100 people packed into the Smithers courthouse on Friday to show support for three Indigenous land defenders being sentenced for attempting to halt work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline in 2021 in defiance of a court-ordered injunction.
Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, Shaylynn Sampson and Corey Jocko will avoid jail time after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen handed the three suspended sentences, rejecting a Crown submission that they spend time in jail.
The trio were arrested, along with several others, along the Coastal GasLink pipeline route on Nov. 19, 2021.
The sentencing closes a chapter in the years-long conflict over construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline through northern B.C., which sparked solidarity protests that shut down transportation corridors across Canada and made international headlines.
Construction on the 670-kilometre gas pipeline was completed in late 2023 after years of opposition by Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders and several high-profile police actions. Earlier this year, the LNG Canada export terminal in Kitimat began shipping gas transported through the pipeline.
Inside the courtroom, some supporters became emotional as Tammen acknowledged the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders’ decades-long fight to affirm the nation’s rights and title — and the B.C. and Canadian governments’ failure to engage meaningfully in negotiations over the outstanding claims.
But instead of sending the three to jail, Tammen suspended the sentences on the condition that they complete 150 hours of community service work, abide by a court injunction issued to the pipeline company and be on good behaviour.
After the decision, Sleydo’ — a member of the Wet’suwet’en Gidimt’en Clan — thanked the Dini ze’ and Ts’ako ze’ (Hereditary Chiefs) who have stood up for the nation’s land rights.
“What they did and how hard they fought and the fact that we still have lands and territories… today, that really showed,” she said outside the courthouse.
“It feels really good today to not be going to jail,” Sleydo’ added, to cheers from those gathered.
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It’s under reported just how much the government, the RCMP and the pipeline companies fucked with these people. I’ve been to the Wet’suwet’en blockade by Smithers for work, where we were followed by low flying helicopters all day long and later questioned by RCMP. The leaders didn’t want a pipeline across the main river they use for water and food.
are they now going to have difficulty finding work to feed, cloth and shelter themselves for the rest of their lives because of this criminal conviction like they would have in the united states?
