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| The Morice Forest Service Road is in the spotlight as it makes for the centre of a dispute over the Coastal GasLink project south of Houston |
Calling the Coastal GasLink pipeline project infrastructure that is vital to securing a liquefied natural gas industry in the province, Premier John Horgan on Monday stated that the pipeline that will run from Alberta to Kitimat's LNG Canada shipment terminal will be built.
The Premier spoke to reporters on Monday as tensions continued to rise in the Wet'suwet'en area of Northwest BC near Houston, where an ongoing dispute with Hereditary Chiefs of the area has seen blockades and evictions put in place in recent weeks.
With court rulings in place confirming that the project can move forward, the Premier observed on Monday that rule of law must be followed.
Mr. Horgan's comments of Monday were the first official response from the NDP government since the recent developments put the Hereditary Chiefs and Coastal GasLink's project back at the top of the headlines in the province.
In response to the latest developments, the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs called for UN intervention on Monday issuing a statement that called for formal monitoring of RCMP, Government and Coastal GasLink actions on their traditional, unceded territory.
Some further background on the Premier's comments related to the dispute can be found from the Victoria Viewpoints archive on our political blog D'Arcy McGee.
While the Premier was speaking in Victoria, the RCMP in the Houston area were releasing their own information statement, with the federal police force setting up what they have described as an Access Control Checkpoint along the Morice West Forest Service Road south of Houston.
Among the items of notes for those looking to access the area as of January 13th include:
Vehicles attempting to enter the Morice Forest Service area at the 27KM mark will be stopped and occupants will be provided a copy of the injunction.
They will be informed of the checkpoint’s purpose and advised of the hazards, including roadway conditions.
Occupants requesting entry will be required to state their purpose, and provide identification. Permission to enter must come from the RCMP’s Operations Commander or delegate. Persons permitted would generally include:
All Hereditary and Elected Chiefs;
Elected and other Government Officials;
Journalists with accreditation from recognised media outlets;
Persons providing food, medicine or other supplies or services required for the well-being and safety of persons behind the blockades;
Other persons as approved by the RCMP Operations Commander or delegate.
For purposes of safety, all persons entering must indicate their specific destination, estimated time of return and indicate their understanding of the hazards present. Vehicles and persons entering will be logged to ensure awareness of who has entered and safely exited. All other vehicles will be turned away.
All occupants of vehicles exiting the area who were not already spoken to on their way in will be briefly detained per paragraph 10 of the BC Supreme Court injunction, asked for identification, and provided a copy of the court order before they are permitted to go on their way.
Last week the Houston RCMP made note of some safety concerns they had discovered along the Service Road, noting that they had opened a criminal investigation file related to the incidents.
It was at this time one year ago, that the RCMP enforced a court order in the same are related to the Coastal GasLink project. A police operation that resulted in a number of arrests and gained some controversy over Christmas following an article in the UK publication the Guardian.
Last week, Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach called for dialogue towards a safe resolution to the dispute.
More items of note on the pipeline controversy can be explore from our past items of our Legislature Archive page, as well as our House of Commons archive for MP Taylor Bachrach.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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