CUPE Metro Vancouver District Council is offering solidarity and support to the Wet’suwet’en Nation. Our members are committed to human rights and to the social justice principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and are engaged in finding ways to meaningfully respond to the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

We are troubled by the events of this past week that saw the enforcement of exclusion zones on traditional unceded territory, the forced removal of land defenders and threats to journalists. The outpouring of support across Canada for the position of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs in the form of rallies, marches, sit-ins, and blockades is a hopeful sign that people everywhere are ready for not just reconciliation but reparations, and to build a new relationship with the Indigenous Peoples of these lands.

We now have an opportunity to take the first steps in transforming and decolonizing our laws. We call on the governments of BC and Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Coastal GasLink Pipeline to respect the position of the Hereditary Chiefs and seek a peaceful resolution to the current conflict.