** SFCC STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR WET'SUWET'EN **
We at Students for Consent Culture Canada stand in solidarity with the people of Wet’suwet’en and the Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en camps and in full support of Wet’suwet’en jurisdiction and governance.
SFCC is an organization dedicated to supporting anti-sexualized violence advocacy and activism, on campuses across the settler-colonial state known as Canada. Our overall goal is to build relationships of solidarity across social justice movements and organizations to support cultures of consent on campuses and in our communities across the whole of Turtle Island.
On January 4th, 2020, almost one year after the heavily militarized RCMP invaded Wet’suwet’en land, Coastal GasLink (CGL) employees were peacefully evicted from Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en territories and told they would not be allowed to re-enter without the consent of the hereditary chiefs. We fully believe that in order to fight sexual violence we much also resist ongoing colonialism and resource extraction, and prioritize free, prior, and informed consent. We would like to remind Coastal GasLink and the BC and federal governments that it is not consent if you are unwilling to hear “no.” Furthermore, the support and inaction on behalf of the BC government regarding the violent imposition onto traditional territories and the forced removal of peoples is in direct contradiction to the “commitment” to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
We unequivocally support the hereditary chiefs in their demand that :
- That the province of British Columbia cease supporting the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project and suspend permits that interrupt the traditional practices and relationships of the Wet’suwet’en people.
- That the UNDRIP and their right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) are respected by the state and RCMP.
- That the RCMP and associated security and policing services be withdrawn from Wet’suwet’en lands, in agreement with the most recent letter provided by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s (CERD)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 our laws and their governance system, and refrain from using any force to access their lands or remove their people.
- Recognize the direct correlation between increased violence and remote industry camps that come with projects such as CGL, which produce an influx of temporary workers – a "shadow population" of mostly young men whose presence contributes to the vulnerability of Indigenous women and strains social services.
We encourage all in our network to read this solidarity toolkit and learn more about what they can do to support the Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders. Find a list of actions happening around the country in solidarity with Unist’ot’en here.
