On a chilly Thursday earlier this week about 100 people rallied in front of the Halifax Regional Police Station on Gottingen Street to show solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders fighting the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline.
Robin Tress, of the Council of Canadians speaks at Law Amendments about Bill 213, the Sustainable Development Goals Act. She makes some great points, about respecting treaty rights, the tendency of governments to allow corporate interests to frame the discussion, and the nature of true consultations.
Many different groups have challenged Mi’kmaw sovereignty over A’Se’k and the area around it, and for centuries, the Mi’kmaq have resisted and protected their homeland. Historian Colin Osmond describes how today’s Mi’kmaq protectors of A’se’k walk in the footsteps and shadows of generations of Mi’kmaq who have done the same.
Last week Mi’kmaw Water Protectors traveled to Antigonish to confront politicians attending the annual meeting of the provincial Liberals about federal efforts to accommodate the Alton Gas Project. Sadie Beaton explains what is going on. Video by Eliza Knockwood included
Today, the RCMP moved to enforce an injunction on behalf of Alton Gas (a subsidiary of Alberta-based AltaGas) against Mi’kmaq water protectors at the Shubenacadie River. They arrested Mi’kmaq grandmothers, and have blocked others from accessing the site.
Join us at the legislature to make a public show of solidarity against this clear violation of the treaties of Peace and Friendship.
Here is something I wrote in my Halifax Media Co-op days, about an interactive map exploring the deep connection between the Mi’kmaq people and the landscape of Mi’kma’ki, the place the Mi’kmaq never ceded and have called home since time began.
Most news organizations in Nova Scotia refer to the Alton Gas water protectors as protesters. I suspect many journalists and editors gravitate to the term protesters because it feels like the more neutral term. The problem is, when you take a closer look, you will find it’s not so neutral after all.
Mi’kmaq grandmothers gave notice to Alton Gas and the various levels of government that the energy giant is not welcome on unceded Mi’kmaq territory.
News release: “The March 12 Court Injunction to remove the Stop Alton Gas Treaty Truckhouse is Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia’s (SuNNS) opportunity to stand with this courageous group of Water and Treaty Protectors. We feel it is important to state our commitment to the Mi’kmaq Water Protectors in a public way as our solidarity acknowledges the legal Treaty relationships and responsibilities which the Mi’kmaq Water Protectors have been safeguarding,” says SuNNS spokesperson Paul Jenkinson.
Media advisory: The Treaty Beneficiary Association of the Mi’kmaw People are hosting a press conference followed by a ‘Treaty Teach-in’ at Saint Mary’s University on Monday March 11th, 2019.