I watched this summer as the RCMP violently policed Indigenous forest protectors at the Fairy Creek/Ada’itsx Blockades & even more baffling, blocking the #Wetsuweten rightful hereditary chiefs & #1stNations members/residents from ACCESSING THEIR OWN LANDS & thereby reneging on all U.N.D.R.I.P. required PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT for forcing the #CGL (COASTAL GAS LINK) O&G PIPELINE THRU SACRED SITES & WATERS OF THE WET'SUWET'EN people-!!??
Such harmful, hateful, hypocritical --& yes, heartbreaking-- violations against promised Indigenous sovereignty (ESP. IN LIGHT OF THIS YEAR'S EXPOSÉ OF THE GOVT-SANCTIONED ABUSIVE/ OPPRESSIVR TREATMENT of Indigenous children kidnapped from their homes suffered at Residential Schools -- LIKE SOMETHING BELONGING IN A DICKENS NOVEL, NOT REAL-LIFE HISTORIC CANADA!!?? -- SHOCKED CANADIANS & BROUGHT A SWELL OF PUBLIC SYMPATHY & SUPPORT FOR BC's NEGLECTED INDIGENOUS SURIVORS.. which promised a newfound respect for their pre-Res-school cultural heritage --& stewardship of Nature at a level that could be THE key to our (humans') ongoing future existence on Earth.
The hopes & wishes for REAL, longed-for #RECONCILIATION (which is now enshrined per #U.N.D.R.I.P. --adopted by #PremierJohnHorgan himself, as well as by federal #PMTrudeau) would seem to become more doable & tangible by the day, with govt. Leaders across the country forced to pause & recognize the full weight of past Govt-hidden atrocities committed in what at the very least appears to prove suspected genocide as their gruesome, publicly-suppressed intent.
Orange shirts of solidarity became the official attire for showing your respect & sincere shame at learning what 1stNations endured at the hands of BC's colonial leaders-- who, judging from the small but highly detailed handful of books written about this exact segment of BC's history, ruthlessly carried out the UNOFFICIAL & UNSIGNED APPROPRIATION OF NATIVE SACRED & TRADITIONAL TERRITORIES, while forcing the (majority of) native inhabitants onto the tiniest possible reserves -- like rounding up & imprisoning cattle to use & abuse --& of course repress -- at will, as needed.
But since BC's govt. leaders -- unlike the rest of Canada's provinces -- deemed treaties outlining Natives' rights unneeded, today that translates into presumed 'unceded lands' of acknowledged aboriginal historic development/use dating back 1,000s of years. If you think you can continue to disrespect & violate their most eloquent, science-backed defenses of Mother Nature's complex workings (which noone knows better than 1st Nations hereditary knowledge holders) -- by building UN-ASSESSED & #BCNDP-BACKED TAR-SANDS SUPPORTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE PROVEN TO ENSURE EVENTUAL EXTINCTION OF BC'S RESIDENT ORCAS -- then you have FAILED to grant even the most minimal protection to the land defenders doing all they can to save the precious integrity of their once-priceless --now-threatened-- rainforest ecosystems..
(WHICH ARE, IN TRUTH, SOME OF THE LAST 1-3% OF UNTOUCHED WILDERNESS AREAS WITH THE HIGHEST BIODIVERSITY COUNTS & UNLOGGED INTEGRITY OF ANY IN BC..)
* * * *
FROM Fairy Creek this year, videos circulated online showing officers choking, pepper spraying, punching & dragging activists face down over rocks by their hair. [1] [2] [3]
Reports further revealed that the RCMP continued to use exclusion zones & block the freedom of the press, long after the B.C. Supreme Court stated this wasn’t permitted by the court-ordered injunction. [4]
And now, Justice Thompson has sided with the forest protectors by denying an extension to the injunction, stating that the RCMP actions at Fairy Creek trampled civil liberties & put the court’s own reputation at risk! [5]
Take notes, because the B.C. NDP government’s reputation is also at risk.
Premier John Horgan: you have clearly stated you want an end to this conflict, yet you've shirked your responsibility to keep citizens safe. [6] Meanwhile, some of B.C.’s best allies in the fight against climate change are on the line: old-growth forests. [7]
After a summer of intense wildfires & record-breaking heatwaves, & now disastrous erosion & flooding jeopardizing B.C.'s communities, you need to keep the promises you made to save our last old-growth forests & end destructive practices like clearcutting, which is exacerbating these crises & threatening our future..
I therefore feel duty-bound to call on your B.C. government to take immediate action as follows:
●Publicly denounce the use of force by the BC-RCMP, while initiating a full & independent investigation into RCMP actions at Fairy Creek;
●Deny further provincial funding or support for RCMP enforcement at Fairy Creek & Wet'suwet'en territory/ 'yintah' (& all waterways) until an independent investigation is completed;
●Enact all recommendations in the provincial report ‘A New Future for Old-Growth Forests’ for an urgently-needed paradigm shift in the management of these rare ecosystems; [8]
●Enact a just transition for forestry workers into a new sustainable economy that doesn’t rely on old-growth logging;
●Cease & desist ALL trespassing over 1st Nations territories! In a code red climate emergency, it is unacceptable that you continue to put industry profits over our right to a climate-safe future. And in a country that talks a good talk about truth & reconciliation, it is despicable that RCMP trample civil liberties & violently police Indigenous forest protectors on their own land!
Old-growth forests in B.C. are teetering on the brink, in danger of becoming a permanent carbon source rather than a critically important carbon sink & habitat for numerous beloved species of biodiversity, known as the 'Lungs of the North'. Please stop fast-tracking their demise: these iconic ancient stands are B.C.'s only valuable natural legacy left - & as you've said before, they're worth their colossal weight in gold INTACT & NOT ON THE BACK OF A TRUCK! Logging these living protectors to fulfill Asia's demand for cheap quality lumber is the OPPOSITE of the climate action you claim to support with CleanBC..
The research is IN, the studies are DONE -- by your own commissioned Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel no less -- which called for an "urgent" paradigm shift in Forestry mgmt, which you promised to enact in full OVER A YEAR AGO.
Since then, reckless & unethical clearcutting has continued at an alarming rate & with even scarier outcomes, with 99%+ of 2021's wildfires occurring in previously-clearcut stands -- including replanted monocultures - where resulting eco-degradation accelerates spreading wildfires & leads directly to calamitous erosion, landslides etc.
A clear example of destructive logging's disastrous effects occurred just yesterday in Agassiz, where ravaged recent cut-blocks blighting the surrounding mountainsides clearly exacerbated -- if not caused -- the deadly flooding/ landslides brought on by heavy rainfall.. along with the washing-away of bridges & highway all along the Coquihalla Highway. As our public servants, it's your job to properly assess such events in consultation with experts & scientists whose intensive, on-the-ground research cancels out the lies of corporate/ industry lobbyists -- & take proactive measures to prevent reoccurrences & ensure public safety.
One thing's certain: continued clearcut logging is putting BC's biodiversity, communities, people & wildlife in dire jeopardy -- to the point of guaranteeing increased risks of worsened fires, flooding & other related catastrophes which we simply cannot afford. Further degradation of our last intact forest ecosystems is a worst-case-scenario that must be avoided at all costs -- not least because the feared outcomes will be noted as YOUR GOVT's failure.
We've seen how Climate change coupled with unchecked ecocidal/ polluting industrial development has turned places like Australia, Brazil & California into disaster-zones that, in turn, have contributed to further increased global warming & loss of invaluable carbon sinks. Yet your govt. is failing to take these warnings seriously & learn their critical lessons.
You can prevent these tragedies - but only if you do the right thing today!
Science has warned of the dire effects of deforestation for years, yet your office has failed to take the proper protective measures that are urgently required to prevent these outcomes!!? 80%+ Cdns. made Climate a top issue in this year's federal election, & thousands more have supported the Fairy Creek & indigenous land protectors who risk their own comfort/safety to ensure BC's sustainable future. You need to follow suit -- LISTEN to those who pay your salaries (US!) rather than the corporations who don't give a damn about anything but their own selfish profits!
Continuing to allow destruction of our most eco-rich & valuable ancient forests by approving cutblocks in these old-growth stands is particularly bloody-minded in light of your adoption of UNDRIP as a reconciliation measure: your inaction on Old-Growth forest protection is inexcusable, & claiming "lost jobs"/ "lost revenue" is simply unfair, given the subsidies you dole out ad infinitum to the most polluting industries, instead of transitioning to sustainable ops in all sectors, in line with CleanBC/ NetZero claimed goals.
Also shameful is continually refusing to provide the proper funding that will ease indigenous transition to preserving, NOT LOGGING, our precious 1,000-year-old forest ecosystems, given the countless benefits they bring to our environments, biodiversity, healthy tourism, clean water quality & vibrant natural surroundings for which we are (/were?) world-famous. And which First Nations managed - spectacularly & sustainably - for millenia, before white Europeans came along & almost destroyed the lot in 150 years or less: SHAMEFUL.
In fact, allowing BC's globally-rare forest ecosystems to be clearcut is like demolishing the great pyramids for the price of their stones: the seriousness of that calamity is less than what your office continues to greenlight, as if our forests aren't the KEYS to tackling the worst of climate change - which they certainly ARE.
The time to transition is NOW - as the decisions you make today will impact all of us – including your children & grandchildren.
How do you want to be remembered – as the ones who violently protected big industry profits at the expense of our planet? Or as playing a significant role in building the sustainable economy that ensures a shared climate-safe future for all?
Your choices matter. We the people are waiting & watching in fear. Please rise to the occasion & do the right thing, as leaders in an apparent 'democracy' -- before it's too late to save ourselves & the world from the preventable effects of irresponsible status-quo stasis.
Thank you.
Sarah (Saz) Chesterman
SOURCES:
[1] https://gripped.com/gripped-outdoors/crazy-scenes-from-the-fairy-creek-blockades-in-b-c/
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/08/canada-logging-protest-vancouver-island
[3] https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/09/27/Someone-Going-To-Be-Injured-Killed/
[4] https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/08/16/Judge-Rebuked-Illegal-RCMP-Tactics/
[5] https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281492164472706
[6] https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2021/10/04/Horgan-Fairy-Creek-Excuses-Betray-Citizens/
[7] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/logging-climate-change-bc-report-1.5895220
[8] https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/forestry/stewardship/old-growth-forests/strategic-review-20200430.pdf
[9] https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/07/05/analysis/under-siege-bcs-forests-have-started-emitting-co2-lots-it
