‘RCMP off Wet’suwet’en land’: Solidarity grows for land defenders
Railways blocked
Major railways have been blocked in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en, as well.
On Thursday afternoon, Via Rail Canada – the country’s passenger rail company – announced it was cancelling service along its network “effective immediately and until further notice”. Via Rail operates more than 500 trains per week across 12,500km (7,767 miles), the company says.
Service had been suspended along the popular Toronto-Montreal line as a result of a blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario. More than 250 trains and over 42,000 passengers had been affected, CBC News reported earlier this week, while industry experts said millions of dollars have been lost due to the stoppage.
Similar blockades also were erected in northern BC and in Manitoba, a province in central Canada.
The Gidimt’en Access Point, a blockade and camp erected by members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s Gidimt’en clan, welcomed the news of the Via Rail shutdown on Thursday. “Canada is officially shutting down! We are so grateful for all the actions of solidarity,” the group wrote on Facebook. “Keep up the pressure! We want the RCMP and CGL off our yintah [land]! We will not stop until they are.”
