Coun. Michael Wolfe wants Richmond to stand in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people in opposition to a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C.
Wolfe’s notice of motion – announced at Tuesday’s committee meeting – calls on Richmond’s mayor and council to urge the B.C. provincial government and the federal government to end any “forced removal” of non-violent Wet’suwet’en people from their traditional territories, to suspend the pipeline permits and start “good-faith” consultation with the Wet’suwet’en.
Wolfe explained in his motion that the hereditary chiefs haven’t shown consent for the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
Victoria and Port Moody have passed similar resolutions in support of the Wet’suwet’en.
While the pipeline has been approved by band councils in northern B.C., the hereditary chiefs have opposed it going through their territory, saying they are defending their land.
Protestors have shut down rail lines across the country while others have held demonstrations at major intersections, at the provincial legislature and at the premier’s home.
The hereditary chiefs applied in early February for a judicial review of the five-year extension of the environmental certificate of Coastal GasLink’s pipeline.
It challenges the BC Environmental Assessment Office’s decision to extend the permits, claiming there were 50 instances of non-compliance by the natural gas company.
The suit also cites the findings of the Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which found links between extractive industries, the camps built up around them and increased violence against Indigenous women.
Wolfe’s motion will come back to committee in two weeks.
