A group of demonstrators showing support for Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have shut down Highway 19 indefinitely in both directions.
About 30 people have been blocking southbound and northbound lanes since 12:30 a.m., causing delays to drivers as RCMP redirect vehicles to alternate routes via Comox Valley Parkway and Buckley Bay Road.
Deraek Menard from Nanaimo has been part of the blockade since the beginning and said the group has no plans to move.
“This is an indefinite occupation until the provincial and federal governments react appropriately,” he said. “What we’re asking is Premier John Horgan order the RCMP to stand down immediately and exit the land they’re trespassing, and for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to enter into a nation-to-nation engagement with hereditary chiefs who have jurisdiction in Wet’suwet’en territory.”
The highway demonstration is part of a larger movement that saw several protests held over the weekend in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who are opposed to construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline across their traditional territories in northwestern British Columbia.
Elected chiefs and band councils representing Wet’suwet’en nations have agreed to the pipeline project. But those opposed say band councils only have jurisdiction over federal reserve land, while hereditary chiefs have maintained title over unceded territory through which the pipeline will pass.
In Victoria, a group of Indigenous youth have been camped at the B.C. legislature since Thursday at noon, and in Ontario, provincial police said Saturday demonstrators shut down VIA Rail and Canadian National Rail traffic from Toronto to Montreal and Ottawa.
On the Lower Mainland, 33 protesters blockading the Port of Vancouver and the DeltaPort container terminal were arrested early Monday when police enforced an injunction preventing the blockades.
— With files from The Canadian Press
