On Friday, February 14th, from 8AM till Noon, we invite one and all to join us in a shutdown of the BC Government. At the suggestion of Indigenous Youth, we call on settlers to help take responsibility for the colonial institutions causing violence against Wet’suwet’en land and people by picketing BC government buildings. We will especially be inviting BCGEU workers to turn their union’s supportive statements for Wet’suwet’en into meaningful action.
We will be hosting two information sessions on Wednesday for people who want to participate in this action. From 4.30-6PM we will be at Vertigo in the Student Union Building at UVic, and from 7.00-8.30 we will be downtown at Trees (546 Yates St). These info sessions are *not* mandatory but we will discuss the strategy, tactic, roles and goals of the action.
IMPORTANT: If you plan to participate in the action, we ask that you sign up so we can anticipate numbers. Please visit https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L0Rdzw6goj2OMD9l6hrWuCdusnA1Tp9t1DKwKfwOSZs/edit?usp=sharing to see action sites and numbers needed, then email feb14bcgovtshutdown@gmail.com to confirm what building you will be at (and if you are coming with others, total number). Note that that email is only being used for action site signups, and messages sent there will not be responded to (post questions here instead).
Meet up spots and times:
>> Downtown Ministries meet at Centennial Square @ 7AM
>> Ministry of Environment, Etc meet at 525 Superior St @ 7.30AM at the fountain in the plaza
>> Jutland Rd Ministries meet at Royal Canadian Legion, 411 Gorge Rd East @ 7AM
>> Ministry of Adv Ed meet at front steps of St Ann’s Academy @ 7.15AM
Information on meet-up spots and times, prior to initiating our pickets, will be added to this event page following the info sessions. And do check this page for updates. If you would like to anchor a site that does not yet have an anchor listed, please contact Seb (jsbonet@gmail.com).
CONTEXT:
On Tuesday, following unprecedented mobilization of Indigenous Youth and settler supporters, the ceremonial procession of the Speech from the Throne was cancelled for the first time. The first sitting of the Legislature was cancelled along with it. And yet, the NDP government persists in its perpetuation of colonial violence, removing Indigenous people, including matriarchs, from their land through a massive RCMP invasion.
Unlike the colonial government, we are listening to the five hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en and continuing to amplify the call for the RCMP to stand down and for CGL to leave the Wet’suwet’en Yintah forever. As so many Indigenous leaders have been saying, we are living through a historic moment in the history of settler colonialism and Indigenous Resurgence. We are asking people to put heart and hands to work for decolonization.
SUPPORTING WET’SUWET’EN:
Wet’suwet’en Supporter Toolkit: http://unistoten.camp/supportertoolkit2020Unist’ot’en
Legal Fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/unistoten2020legalfund
Callout for Solidarity: http://unistoten.camp/alleyesonwetsuwetenGidimt’en
Call to action: www.yintahaccess.com
Donate to Gidimt’en Camp: https://www.gofundme.com/f/gidimt039en-strong
Event cover image photo credit: Mike Graeme