Tag Archives: C-IRG

Forests

Fairy Creek: A Litigious Aftermath

In 2020, logging company Teal Jones was engaged in cutting irreplaceable, old-growth, temperate rainforest in the Fairy Creek area of their lease on Vancouver island. In response, substantial numbers of “forest defenders” gathered to protest and obstruct the old growth cut… and local history was made.

Protestors blocked the access road to Teal Cedar‘s cut blocks from 2020 through early 2021. The number of people arrested exceeded 1100 — which, according to CBC, made it “the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.”

Cortes Currents has followed the story of the Fairy Creek protest as it developed; many Cortes residents spent time at the protest encampment, or are closely connected to people who participated. We continue that coverage now, with an update on the highly litigious aftermath of the blockade action.

Continue reading Fairy Creek: A Litigious Aftermath →
Indigenous Nations, Industry, Politics

Mining and conservation can go hand in hand, environment ministers say

By Matteo Cimellaro, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Mining projects and protected land can co-exist, two provincial environment ministers said at a press conference on Friday after two days of meetings with their counterparts from across the country.

Continue reading Mining and conservation can go hand in hand, environment ministers say →
Politics

Elizabeth May comes to Campbell River: Why Greens matter

Green Party leader Elizabeth May flew in from Ottawa on Saturday, May 6. She was the feature speaker at the North Island – Powell River Electoral District Association (EDA) AGM at the Maritime Heritage Centre in Campbell River. Around 60 people from Campbell River, Comox, Powell River, Port McNeil, Quadra Island and Cortes Island were in attendance.  

This is an edited transcript of her speech, and a couple of excerpts from the subsequent remarks made by local Green Party candidate Jessica Wegg.

Continue reading Elizabeth May comes to Campbell River: Why Greens matter →
Indigenous Nations, Justice

RCMP do not agree to abide by Gitxsan chiefs’ ban on ‘militarized squadron’

By Kaitlyn Bailey, Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The B.C. RCMP will not respect a ban from the Gitxsan hereditary chiefs which prohibits the police force’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) from entering their traditional territories.

In an email to Black Press Media, Sgt. Kris Clark wrote that while the B.C. RCMP will “do everything possible” to respect the ban, they have obligations and responsibilities to enforce court injunctions and maintain public safety.

The C-IRG unit is “uniquely situated” to do these tasks through specific training and resources, Clark stated.

Continue reading RCMP do not agree to abide by Gitxsan chiefs’ ban on ‘militarized squadron’ →
Energy, Environment, Indigenous Nations

‘We should avoid monitoring’: feds quietly backed off while Coastal GasLink pipeline work killed fish

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

On a dreary gray day in late October, passers by gawked at a scene outside a hotel in Smithers, B.C. The charred remnants of several trucks sat in the parking lot in the wake of what police described as a “targeted attack” in the pre-dawn hours of the morning. 

Among the blackened wreckage were four police cruisers — marked and unmarked vehicles with the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group, a special task force assigned to police opposition to industrial projects. The controversial RCMP unit maintains a constant presence on Wet’suwet’en yintah (territory) where Coastal GasLink (CGL) is building a pipeline without the consent of the nation’s Hereditary Chiefs. 

Continue reading ‘We should avoid monitoring’: feds quietly backed off while Coastal GasLink pipeline work killed fish →