MONTREAL – Protesters in Quebec set up a blockade Saturday morning across a strip of Canadian National Railways (CN) south of Montreal in solidarity with Wet’suwet’s hereditary chiefs’ en amid an ongoing stalemate with the RCMP and a major oil and gas company in BC
The protesters described themselves in a press release Saturday as “non-indigenous settler allies who stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples defending their territory from colonial violence.” and the destruction of industry.”
The protest began at 9:30 a.m. in Saint-Lambert, Que., a city on the South Shore of Montreal, and will continue “as long as the RCMP remains on Wet’suwet’en territory and construction Coastal GasLink pipeline continues,” one of the participants in the blockade, Marianne Côté, said in the statement.
In a statement, CN confirmed it was aware of the lockdown, but did not specify whether it would disrupt service.
It was the latest of several solidarity protests that have taken place across the country in recent weeks. Kahnawake, the community of Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) also on Montreal’s South Shore, staged a lengthy blockade in late November on a stretch of highway.
The hereditary chiefs of Wet’suwet’en, the traditional leaders of the territory, are protesting against the construction of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline, even though it has been approved by the elected assembly. via. In November, Mounties in northern BC said it was enforcing a ban on protests blocking access used by Coastal GasLink pipeline workers. Several people were arrested, including two journalists.
The 670km pipeline that will transport natural gas from the North BC Coastal Gaslink says construction is more than half way complete.
– More details will come.
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