As noted on a Facebook event page, “Members of the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society who have been arrested and incarcerated will be on a speaking tour in January and February to raise awareness about their struggle against fracking, their ongoing assertion and exercise of nationhood, and the repression they face from police and courts.”
The Council of Canadians has contributed funds to support this tour.
The public events will take place at:
Friday January 24
11:30 am – Capilano University, North Vancouver
2:30 pm – Simon Fraser University, downtown Vancouver campus
6 pm – SFU Harbour Centre, downtown Vancouver
Sunday January 26
10:30 am – Chief Joe Mathias Centre, Squamish Nation
Monday January 27
4 pm – Neskonlith Hall, Secwepemc Nation
Saturday February 1
9 am – Morricetown, Wet’suwet’en Territories
Thursday February 6
6 pm – BCGEU, Victoria
Friday February 7
University of Victoria
For more details on these events, please click here.
The tour is being organized, hosted and/or sponsored by the Native Youth Movement, Unist’ot’en Camp, No One Is Illegal, Streams of Justice, VIPIRG, IGOV, Skwomesh Action, Capilano University First Nations Student Services, Capilano Student Union First Nations Caucus, Capilano University Humanities, Capilano University Social Sciences, Earthworks, Rising Tide, the Council of Canadians, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, SFU Institute for the Humanities, SFU First Nations Studies, Idle No More, Defenders of the Land, SFPIRG and other allies.
The unceded Mi’kmaq territory that is being defended against fracking by Houston-based SWN Resources covers most of New Brunswick south of the Miramichi River and a portion of Nova Scotia, where it borders New Brunswick. As acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada in the 1997 Delgamukw decision, Aboriginal title to most of the land within British Columbia has never been extinguished.
Further reading
Fredericton chapter joins highway protest against fracking trucks
Barlow visits protest site in New Brunswick
Barlow at Elsipogtog Benefit Concert in Halifax
Solidarity from BC to fracking protests in NB
