On Nov. 21, Gitxsan members and their allies marched from the Sunshine Inn to the provincial courthouse in Smithers, in protest of the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).
“The RCMP with their militarized cops are forcing us off our land with brute force,” said hereditary chief Moolaxan (Norman Moore). “We are not going to stand by.”
The C-IRG was enacted in 2017, and allows for the deployment of a “tactical and operational response” in order to maintain “public order,” says the RCMP. The program has been criticized by activist groups, due to arrests of protesters and journalists, and various allegations of police brutality.
“When we defend our land, they bring these militarized police and they chase us off our land,” said Moore. “They bring a militarized army, rifles, helicopters, anything at their disposal, to remove the people.”
In an earlier interview with The Interior News, Staff-Sgt. Kris Clark, a senior spokesperson for the RCMP, said the response to C-IRG is mostly “sensationalized,” and that the C-IRG group itself has not caused any “physical injuries as a result of any enforcement actions to date.”
The Nov. 21 protest began at the parking lot of the Sunshine Inn, where Allies in Action coordinators gave a safety debriefing with approximately 30 people in attendance. In the instance of police violence, protesters were asked to “sit down peacefully.”
Allies in Action is a logistics group that provides communications assistance to underserved communities.
There was no police presence for the march save for an unmarked vehicle parked downtown with two officers observing the proceedings.
The Sunshine Inn was once the temporary living quarters for RCMP members during C-IRG deployment on the Coastal GasLink pipeline construction camp near Houston and was the site of an arson attack that left four police cruisers and an ambulance destroyed or damaged.
Security personnel, including unarmed guards and a truck marked “Stop the War on Indigenous Land Defenders,” fronted the protesters who marched down Highway 16 with a sign reading “Stop BC Supreme Court Interference on Gitxsan land.”
Moore told a story of a C-IRG deployment during a blockade in New Hazelton where police allegedly “pulled their guns on an innocent protester, arrested them, and put them in jail.”
In 2020, 14 people were arrested, including three hereditary chiefs, for setting up a railway blockade on the CN tracks in New Hazelton. Gitxsan hereditary chiefs were protesting in solidarity with the Witsuwit’en hereditary chiefs, who were opposing the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
The B.C. Supreme Court provided CN Rail with an injunction based on the “economic harm” that would result from blocking the railway between Prince George and Prince Rupert.
“The B.C. courts are crooked, they are supposed to be unbiased, and yet they are not,” said Moore. “They are siding with the people that employ them, and that is the government.”
Akshara Poulose, public affairs officer from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation addressed the accusation of bias in the courts.
“British Columbia continues to engage with both the hereditary and elected First Nation’s leadership in recognizing and implementing their rights, title, laws, and governance in their territory.”
During last week’s demonstration, the highway was blocked for five minutes before the group turned down Main Street. Spectators honked, parked their vehicles, and took videos on their phones. After reaching the courthouse, Gitxsan representatives stood on the roundabout and waved at the unmarked RCMP vehicle.
A series of speeches were delivered, contextualizing the distrust Gitxsan members have for the RCMP.
“We live on the Highway of Tears,” explained Ska’yan (Anita Davis).
“They never investigate when one of us goes missing. They never investigate crimes against us, there is no justice, there is no closure for many of our families.”
Cpl. Madonna Saunderson, a spokesperson for the RCMP in northern B.C. disputed that contention.
“The RCMP is committed to actively investigating unresolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people,” Saunderson said.
“RCMP takes all missing persons investigations very seriously. Regardless of their race or gender, the safety and well-being of any missing person is the primary concern driving investigative tasks and decisions.”
Hereditary chiefs also referenced the historical role RCMP played in residential schools, in which officers forcibly removed Indigenous children from their homes.
Currently, Gitxsan land is a passing point for industry workers, specifically those in the forestry sector and resource extraction. Gitxsan hereditary chiefs are demanding that the RCMP resolve future industry disputes and protests “peacefully,” as opposed to deploying the C-IRG.
“We would rather sit and discuss what needs to be done,” said Moore. “We are humans, not animals.”
READ MORE: Gitxsan chiefs call for ban of RCMP Community-Industry Response Group
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