My letter of SUPPORT 4 the WET'SUWET'EN

(Govt recipients' emails listed @ bottom)

RE:  URGENT ACTION DEMANDED DUE TO UNLAWFUL VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS & TITLE OF THE WET'SUWET'EN

Dear Sir/Madam,

I & all BCers with whom I've discussed this appalling event diametrically oppose the forcible removal at gunpoint by 'fully-armed' RCMP of our Wet’suwet’en Nation’s people from their own territories, & we ask that you fulfill your responsibilities as public servants by ensuring the RCMP & Coastal GasLink respect the constitutionally-protected rights of the Wet’suwet’en people on their unceded territory.

WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF GOVERNMENT's INCESSANT & EMBARRASSING PANDERING TO POLLUTING INDUSTRIES THAT HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH MURDER FOR FAR TOO LONG, & HOLD US ALL BACK FROM THE CHANGES WE NEED TO MAKE TO MOVE FORWARD!

We the public need your cooperation/ legislation - ACTING not just talking on BCers' behalf - to clean up our ways & move into a thriving sustainable world with forests intact, GHGs down & oxygen levels UP.. for future generations, so we can live with ourselves & decisions made.

The decision to attack peaceful people defending their [our] land & trying mightily to help bring good results for BC's future, who've been attacked & vilified by our Govt. 'leaders' for too long, is a $$-based one that favours big-$$ polluting entities rather than the law-abiding citizens rightfully opposing these industries' continuing  [proven] destruction of the ecosystems whose health all life depends for survival.  This project puts environmental health - e.g. drinking water - at risk, & will release massive amounts of carbon pollution/GHGs into the atmosphere.

We NEED our Govts. & industries to do the right thing & start protecting OUR best interests, not those of polluting corporations putting our future, health & welfare - along with those of all living species - in jeopardy..

The principle of free, prior & informed consent requires our Courts and Governments to respect the jurisdiction of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary governance authorities, who have clearly stated that they will not allow Coastal GasLink to build a pipeline through their territory.  And as a BC citizen i agree.

Please respect the following, as per the laws to which you are bound to uphold in your position: 

1) The TransCanada Coastal GasLink pipeline does not have the collective free, prior, and informed consent of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs. All the Wet'suwet'en Clans have rejected the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

2) The injunction and enforcement order ignores the jurisdiction and authority of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs' system of governance, and criminalizes land defenders.

3) We demand that the provincial government, federal government, RCMP, and industry  commit to upholding the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Anuk Nu'at'en (Wet'suwet'en laws), and that NO RCMP enforcement against Unist'ot'en/Giltseyu-Dark House take place on their unceded lands. Reconciliation and respecting UNDRIP means that Unist'ot'en's rights must be honoured.

If you have any integrity as a so-called 'leader' you must know that the injunction issued by the BC Supreme Court favours the status-quo of polluting industry scientifically proven to wreak havoc on the climate/ environmental balance on which all life depends, while violating the basic rights of legit citizens defending their land for the future benefit of all BCers.  Therefore you have a duty to uphold the "rule of law" as you yourselves claim, by respecting these people's rights & ending this wrongful police occupation immediately. Anything else is unacceptable.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

SARAH CHESTERMAN

VANCOUVER, BC

This message sent to:

AGR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
AEST.Minister@gov.bc.ca
AG.Minister@gov.bc.ca
MCF.Minister@gov.bc.ca
CITZ.Minister@gov.bc.ca
educ.minister@gov.bc.ca
EMPR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
ENV.Minister@gov.bc.ca
FIN.Minister@gov.bc.ca
HLTH.Minister@gov.bc.ca

IRR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
JTT.Minister@gov.bc.ca
Minister.TRD@gov.bc.ca
LBR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
MH.Minister@gov.bc.ca
MAH.Minister@gov.bc.ca
PSSG.Minister@gov.bc.ca
SDPR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
TAC.Minister@gov.bc.ca

Minister.Transportation@gov.bc.ca
coastalgaslink@transcanada.com
bcrcmp@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

GRC@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca
ralph.goodale@parl.gc.ca
carolyn.bennett@parl.gc.ca
Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca
Jane.Philpott@parl.gc.ca
Catherine.McKenna@parl.B.C..ca

THANK YOU ROBERT AGES FOR YOUR INFO & LISTS!  SOLIDARITY!!

CLeanBC: GovT's iNTeNT 2 FAiL Us ALL [Updated Jan 2019]

[My response to The BC Govt's 'Clean Growth Intent Papers' -- rhetoric for 'Business As Usual']

'Clean growth' is a purely political term which impLies change without acTuaLLy disrupting the existing order. While the Papers' intro/ summaries suggest Govt 'intends' to transition away from fossil fuel/ polluting industries & toward decarbonization/ renewables, its contents propose few if any ACTUAL changes to the current status quo.

So much for the internationally- accepted UN-supported 2020 deadline for drastic reductions in our C02/GHG emissions..m?rr.n

Abstract mentions of a "climate response" aside,  there are no indications ANY Govt measures taken up until now have done anything but worsen BC's l))l recorded fact.  Yet this 'Intent Paper' proposes NO NEW LEGISLATION - NO SOLID MEASURES that will mitigate effects of continuing approval/ use of polluters such as fossil fuels as our main source of power in all sectors -- construction, industry & transportation.

BC's Intent is apparently to CLAIM (=PRETEND) to support low-emissions/ renewable energy while continuing to allow for expansion of Alberta’s oil sands & BC’s fracked gas industries via new bitumen pipelines & LNG terminals.  According to these Papers, BC intends to continue its lax hands-off-biz M.O. of taking NO REAL MEASURES to lower GHGs, reduce our reliance on polluting fossil fuels oR properly incentivize ACTUAL 'Clean' energy (eg. 100% renewable Geothermal?)  A huge mistake..

Not even ONE SMALL MEASURE is planned to address BC's #1 critically endangered rainforests, to put an immediate stop to logging precious old-growth forest & protect their giant carbon-sequestering advantage (which turns into emitted C02 when logged, something we cannot afford) for future generations' very SURVIVAL..?  WTF #BCNDP..?

One can only conclude that the kind of continued 'Growth' intended by the BC Govt is ever-rising emissions, fires & pollution.. along with increasing ruin of efficient carbon sinks like forests & wilderness. With this obvious INTENT TO FAIL --including failing their responsibilities to Canada's constitution as Stewards of Nature-- I propose this provincial Govt resigns & gives the BC GREENS a chance to improve BC's future outlook:  it's evidently the only way to save BC from certain RUIN as laid out by past Liberal & present [equally unfit] NDP Govts' dereliction of duty, of which these latest 'Intent Papers' = documented proof thereof!? UNBELIEVABLE..

UPDATE JAN.4 2019:
So it's been put thru as 'CleanBC' & here's Sierra Club's Hannah Askew's MiLD too-tame review..
CleanBC-SierraClub'sResponse