CANADA: POLICE OBSTRUCT JOURNALISTS REPORTING FROM WET'SUWET'EN TERRITORY, MAKE ARRESTS

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November 19, 2021, Canada – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested at least one media member on Thursday night and established an exclusion zone from where they stopped journalists from reporting on a protest against the construction of natural gas pipeline in Wet’suwet’en territory. The protests have gone on for days on end, with many protestors and journalists camping out in the area. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned at this blatant obstruction of press freedom and the citizens’ right to information.

“Arrests have started this morning at Gidimt’en camp. At least 15, including 1 media person, 3 legal observers and two Wet’suwet’en elders,” read a Twitter post of photojournalist Amber Bracken, who is reporting from the camp.

Amber cited the arrested journalist as saying that she was singled out by Police and was among the first few arrests. The arrested journalist reportedly further added that she was prevented from doing her job. 

“Almost like they didn’t want her to capture images of what they were doing,” wrote Amber.

Meanwhile, Brandi Morin, an award winning journalist, said in a Twitter post that the police’s actions were against the freedom of the press and the public’s right to information. “This is ILLEGAL!!! RCMP cannot impede journalists,” she wrote. 

According to reports, over 1100 arrests have been made from the site this year. The issue has been recorded as the largest civil disobedience event in recent Canada history.

Amber wrote that the media exclusion zone is set at the 27km road marker, explaining that “it is 17km from Gidimt’en camp and 36 km from Coyote camp. This is pretty far from reasonable access.”

Another photojournalist Daniel Mesec also took to Twitter to report that “RCMP [is] stopping journalists from reporting” on the developing situation.

The conflict over a natural gas pipeline in northwestern British Columbia is the latest flashpoint between resource development and Indigenous rights and title in a province where large swaths of territory are not covered by any treaty, CBC reports.

At the center of the conflict is a multi-billion dollar natural gas project — touted as the largest private sector investment in Canadian history — and an assertion by Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs that no pipelines can be built through their traditional territory without their consent. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the steps taken by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to prevent journalists from doing their job properly. We stand in solidarity with the journalists reporting from the site, where matters appear to be escalating. We call on the Canadian authorities to respect the citizens’ right to protest, the journalists’ right to report and the public’s right to information.