Gitxsan leaders rally against industry injunctions, calling the orders ‘a license to kill’

Eight Gitxsan hereditary chiefs led a rally at the B.C. Supreme Court in “Vancouver” this week — speaking out against the use of injunction orders and how they break Indigenous law.

The chiefs say the injunctions — which are requested by industry corporations, granted by the court and enforced by the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) — are in direct opposition to their protocols and a threat to people’s safety.

To bring renewed attention to the issue, a group from Gitxsan marched from the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery, briefly blocking traffic, to the court downtown on Oct. 11. 

With each wearing regalia to represent their individual house groups — walking to the soft heartbeat of drums — the chiefs marched in front of a banner that said, “Stop B.C. Supreme Court interference on Gitxsan land issues.”

Luutkudziiwus (Gordon Sebastian), the event’s MC, said the Gitxsan Huwilp Government sent a letter earlier this year to Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson requesting a meeting on the issue, but there has not been any progress.

“The Supreme Court Justice is right here. We’re on his step,” he said in an interview with IndigiNews.

“Because his orders are a license to kill, and we want to deal with him regarding that. These chiefs want to meet with the Supreme Court Justice, and he’s ignoring us.”

Gitxsan laws rooted in respect

The C-IRG unit was first formed in 2017 to quell dissent against energy industry developments, including the Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines. There have since been calls to abolish the group because of controversy around their use of force, harassment of Indigenous land defenders and other issues. 

The Gitxsan’s neighbouring Wet’suwet’en Nation has been fighting against the Coastal GasLink project, which was granted an injunction by the B.C. Supreme Court in 2018.

Though the project opposes Wet’suwet’en law and rights, there have been dozens of arrests and RCMP raids as the nation tries to protect its land and waters from industry extraction.

Meanwhile, three Gitxsan hereditary chiefs were arrested in 2020 for blocking a railway in “New Hazelton” during a nationwide protest in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en and against the Coastal GasLink injunction.

The Gitxsan Huwilp Government signed a community safety plan with the RCMP in December 2022, but the chiefs expressed that the relationship has since eroded. 

In January, the Gitxsan hereditary chiefs issued an order banning the C-IRG from their lands, but the RCMP wouldn’t agree, citing their “lawful obligations” under the B.C. Supreme Court. 

Luutkudziiwus and the other leaders said there’s been ongoing industry activity on their lands — from pipeline proposals to mining — and there are concerns for the safety of members.

“We have 35,000 square kilometres of territory divided by about 108 tracts of land. And each tract of land belongs to different chiefs,” Luutkudziiwus said.

“And the respect is that we don’t go into anyone’s land without permission. If you go on there, you’re trespassing. We have our laws to deal with that, and it’s basically respect. We don’t use enforcement.”

After the Gitxsan Huwilp Government requested a meeting with Chief Justice Hinkson regarding their concerns, they received a letter from the B.C. Supreme Court’s legal counsel this spring.

“Your letter raises concerns about actions taken by the RCMP C-IRG to enforce injunctions issued by the court and seeks a meeting with Chief Justice Hinkson to address this issue,” states the letter dated April 28.

“Judges cannot enter into private correspondence or attend private meetings with persons regarding matters that have been, are currently, or may be before the courts … Therefore, your correspondence will not be considered by the court.”

The Gitxsan Huwilp Government wrote back on May 18, clarifying that it was still waiting to meet with a B.C. Supreme Court representative and, in the meantime, would be approaching the situation with a no-trespass ban and a proposed peacekeeping agreement.

“GHG is also discussing these legal issues of the B.C. Supreme Court at our Tripartite Treaty Negotiations Table,” the letter reads, in part.

“Our Gitxsan Nation is in immediate and dire exceptional circumstances due to the militarized deployment of RCMP C-IRG onto our lands and the lands of our First Nations neighbours.”

‘Is that reconciliation?’

The rally calling for an end to RCMP-enforced industry injunctions ties into a larger fight for title and rights that has been ongoing for the Gitxsan chiefs since the start of colonization.

At one point, this fight went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in the historic Delgumuukw case, which affirmed ancestral title. 

However, Simoogit Geel (Catherine Blackstock) pointed out it has been more than 25 years since that ruling was handed down, but “the governments of Canada and B.C. have not been willing to accept our authority and responsibility.”

Simoogit Geel also referenced the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), which specifies free, prior and informed consent must be given by Indigenous communities when it comes to any decisions involving their lands.

“It starts out with the government giving approval to the industry. People coming on our land, and they’re doing that without our prior, informed consent,” she said. 

“An injunction is made [as a] full stop, there’s no dialogue … they can bring in the armed martial law with guns and dogs meant to threaten and intimidate. Is that reconciliation?”