Our courts have been weaponized through injunction law to oppress sovereign Indigenous nations and to suppress public opposition to extractive industrial projects.įor Indigenous land defenders, following ancient laws and upholding their duties to future generations, the courts are as ruthless as their colonial foundations.Īs a consequence, we’re seeing our jails and courts swelling with land and water protectors - many of whom have been terrorized by C-IRG, an expensive, mercenary branch of the RCMP. It is disturbing to witness such power wielded by a judge with such an evident gap in knowledge about - and blatant disregard for - Indigenous history. He is currently behind bars, after his appeal was rejected. In the hearing for Tsleil-Waututh land defender Will George, who breached a TMX injunction on “Burnaby Mountain,” Fitzpatrick revealed that she did not know where Tsleil-Waututh territory was - even though both the courtroom she was sitting in and the TMX terminus are located on the nation’s shared lands.įitzpatrick sentenced George to 28 days in jail, much to the concern of his community, whose leadership has been opposing TMX for years. I’ve sat through several court sentencings under Fitzpatrick, whose sarcastic, paternalistic behaviour is not what I expected from a judge. I’ve observed an escalation of sentencing severity under Fitzpatrick, which illustrates the court’s compliance with Crown’s strategy of deterrence. Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick started overseeing TMX injunction cases. The colonial legal system comprises Crown and court: the Crown decides whether to target and charge land defenders, and the judges have the final word. Growing political uncertainty led the Texas-based Kinder Morgan to abandon the project, and “Canada” bought TMX for $4.5 billion in August 2018.Īs such, TMX is now owned and regulated by the federal government and its agencies, which some see as a serious conflict of interest. Will George (Swaysən) was the first guardian of the space.ĭays later, Trans Mountain was granted a court-ordered injunction to stifle resistance. In March 2018, Tsleil-Waututh Nation built the Kwekwecnewtxw (watch house) adjacent to the TMX storage tank facility, in order to keep an eye on the pipeline terminus. The beneficiaries are companies and governments, which are able to use the court to protect their interests based on an inflated definition of “harm” usually accepted by the court.īack i n 2014, hundreds of people united in opposition at the pipeline’s terminus on “Burnaby Mountain.” More than 100 people were reportedly arrested, but those charges were ultimately all thrown out because of inaccurate GPS coordinates. While injunctions have been used against Indigenous people for centuries, they’ve become more prevalent in recent years consistent with the rise of neoliberal capitalism and privatization. TMX and the injunction that shields itĬourt-ordered injunctions are used to legitimize the repression of political resistance and to criminalize any opposition to corporate and government agendas. There seems to be a particular harshness towards Indigenous people in our “justice” system - exuding a colonial toxicity that has no place in an era of “truth” or “reconciliation. It wasn’t always so risky to protest the pipeline - but we have seen an escalation in this type of punishment through the courts since 2020. Last month, Miranda Dick and five others, including a hereditary chief, were each sentenced to a minimum of 28 days in jail. While Dick was conducting a hair-cutting ceremony beside the gate, her foot was a few inches over the RCMP’s freshly-drawn injunction line.Īlong with seven others, Dick was arrested for breaching the TMX injunction and “contempt of court.”ĭuring two years of hearings, the judge who convicted the Secwépemc water protectors has disregarded the significance of ceremony - held on their own territory and in accordance with Secwépemc law, to protect women, water and future generations. While at the construction site at Sqeq’petsin, I witnessed Secwépemc Matriarch Miranda Dick post a “cease and desist” order - stating that TMX was not permitted to drill under the sacred waters briefly known as the “Thompson River.” In October of 2020, I travelled with others from Coast Salish territories to Tk’emlúps (Kamloops) to support Indigenous water protectors standing up against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX). Supporters gathered at the Kwekwecnewtxw (Coast Salish watch house) on “Burnaby Mountain” to celebrate its fifth anniversary on March 18, 2023.
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