Following RCMP raids on Wet’suwet’en Territory this week, indigenous people, land defenders and accomplices have been taking up the call to Shut Down Canada with ongoing actions across the country targeting urban centres, highways, ports and railways. Here is an update on some actions across southern Ontario thus far and some notes on what’s to come. Something incomplete or missing? Send us a reportback! Read More …
On February 2, 2020 – before the RCMP began raiding Wet’suwet’en Territories once more – folks gathered in JC Beemer Park in Hamilton, ON for a “festive disruption” that promised both fun and effective action in support of the people risking their lives out west.
We’re happy to say it was a success!
After approximately 120 people of all ages gathered at the park, we started the day with a traditional Haudensaunee opening and blessing, and then briefed folks not to talk to police for everyone’s safety, or media as to keep messaging aligned with the messages coming from the Wet’suwet’en. We fired up the crowd with some stories and encouragement to challenge their own fears and discomforts – and then took all 5 lanes of an arterial road through the North end of Hamilton. Read More …
From Wet’suwet’en Solidarity – Guelph (Facebook) Highway 6 – Guelph, ON 7:45 am January 31st, 2020 ‘Stop the RCMP. Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en’ The Wet’suwet’en Nation is currently engaged in an ongoing struggle to protect their ancestral and unceded, sovereign territory from the Coastal Gaslink pipeline project (CGL) and the Canadian State. Just over one year after a militarized RCMP raid the Wet’suwet’en fear another raid- knowing that the RCMP will Read More …
On January 4th, Wet’suwet’en members delivered an eviction notice to the CGL mancamp known as “site 9A” on Unistʼotʼen territory. CGL complied with the eviction notice, and employees and security forces completely withdrew from the territory. Shortly thereafter, there were reports of over 100 felled trees and piles of tires and accelerants blocking Morice West Forest Service Road, effectively protecting the area from industry and RCMP incursion. This unceded Wet’suwet’en land has now been liberated from Canada. Read More …
In addition to the press release below, some participants wanted to add a few reflections:
-“It was great to be out with such a nice group of people wanting to disrupt things. I feel worried about the tendency for actions like this to hold little actual impact and to be so focused on the image for social media.”
-“It wasn’t entirely clear what the goals and objectives were logistically (ie whether or not to block entry) and strategically (mostly to show solidarity/awareness raising, or to affect RBC operations, etc). Clarity in intention is a good future goal to keep in mind.” Read More …
Last night, we did a sabotage at railway bottleneck in Burlington. This place chosen because of the juncture there, with lines from Detroit and Buffalo joining to go forward to Toronto and Montreal. We have heard it’s the busiest intersection of this kind in Canada. This action is in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en people in the front line struggle against the Canadian state and the corporations it supports, in response to a call for actions attacking the railways.
We did this by identifying a signal station and setting a fire under its power supply to destroy the cables that would feed it. Hoping this will take them some time to repair and keeping the line closed for longer. Read More …
Thank you to the 50 people who gathered Saturday in SOLIDARITY with the Wet’suwet’en land defenders, on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe.
The gathering was opened with songs and a speech. Then, despite the snow storm, the march took to the streets and traveled from Kingston City Hall to Queen’s University where Jawad Masud, TC Energy VP of Corporate Communications was speaking at the Oil and Gas Panel at the Queen’s Global Energy Conference.
Upon arrival at the conference, the January 5 eviction notice to Coastal GasLink (CGL) from Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs was presented to the TC Energy VP. (TC Energy is a major stakeholder in CGL.) Read More …
On Friday, January 17th a group of approximately 15 people took control of a busy commuter street on both sides of a ground-level rail crossing for the CN main line in Kingston, Ontario. We used banners and our bodies to stop traffic and flyered the waiting cars with information about the ongoing struggle on Wet’suwet’en territory.
I chose to participate in this action because I believe we should build a collective social force that threatens critical infrastructure whenever land defenders are attacked. #ShutDownCanada should be a threat and a promise, not simply a hashtag. I think we are at our strongest when we do this in public and invite others to join us in building a Turtle-Island-wide rapid response network that has the back of Indigenous land and water protectors. Last January’s actions inspired a lot of us to continue fighting along these lines, whether or not they had much impact on the actions of pipeline builders and police. Read More …
A few nights ago, an anarchist settler sabotaged CN’s main transcontinental rail line. If TC Energy wanted to transport anything from southern Ontario or further east to CGL sites in BC, it’s likely that this they’d use this line. I was careful to choose a secluded site since it would take longer to work alone. Read More …
On Friday, January 10th, around 50+ strong rallied in Gore Park in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en who are defending their unceded sovereign land against violent colonial invasion.
Equipped with a marching band, signs, and a giant balloon banner that read: “STOP CGL”, we proceeded onto King Street, catching cops and bankers by surprise when we detoured into the RBC in Jackson Square to disrupt as they prepared to close for the day. One perturbed employee who tried to head off the procession protested “you can’t do this! We’re trying to do business here!” to which a speaker in our midst retorted that was exactly the point.
And that is exactly the point: Business will not go on uninterrupted and unchallenged while indigenous lives are under attack. Read More …
