Media release: Students walk out in support of Wet’suwet’en and Indigenous land defenders

March 4, 2020 For Immediate Release MEDIA ADVISORY 

K’JIPUKTUK (HALIFAX) – Today, students across Nova Scotia will walk out of class in support of Wet’suwet’en and Indigenous land and water defenders who are protecting their sovereign and unceded land from harmful oil and gas infrastructure of the Coastal Gas Link Pipeline and militarized force of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Students are demanding the immediate and full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as promised in BC Premier John Horgan’s address in March 2019. 

Within the Halifax Regional Municipality, students will be meeting at the Halifax Central Library to rally in support and take action by contacting elected officials and decision-makers to comply with the demands of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs. Students will be walking out of class at 2:00pm and meeting at the library at 2:30pm. 

DATE: Wednesday, March 4, 2020

TIME: 2:30 PM

LOCATION: Halifax Central Library 

Echoing the demands from the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, students are calling: 

• That the province of British Columbia to cease construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project and suspend permits.
• That UNDRIP and the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) are respected by the state and RCMP.
• hat the RCMP and associated security and policing services be withdrawn from Wet’suwet’en lands, in agreement with the most recent letter provided by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s (CERD) request.
• That the provincial and federal government, RCMP and private industry employed by CGL respect [their] laws and [their] governance system, and refrain from using any force to access [their] lands or remove [their] people.

Learn more about how you can support Wet’suwet’en land defenders at the toolkit below. http://unistoten.camp/supportertoolkit/ 

The Canadian Federation of Students is the oldest and largest national student organization in Canada, representing over 500,000 college, undergraduate and graduate students across the country.