Tensions swell on Wet'suwet'en territory

Yesterday, demonstrators and journalists appeared in a northern B.C. court after spending the weekend in jail for their presence at a resistance camp in Wet’suwet’en territory. The RCMP arrested dozens of people and cleared the camp last week. It had been blockading a key work site for the Coastal GasLink pipeline project. Hundreds of workers had been stranded after the blockade was erected. The police were enforcing an injunction from a civil court that said Coastal GasLink should be able to continue its work. Today, attorney Kris Statnyk explains that the legal battle happening over the land is incredibly complex, because even the Canadian legal system holds contradictory positions on this issue. And the Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter Amanda Follett Hosgood explains what’s been happening on the front lines.