Faculty in the Department of Sociology join professors and scholars from across Canada and around the world in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and land and water protectors in British Columbia, who oppose the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline on their traditional and unceded territory.
The University of British Columbia is located on the traditional and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Okanagan peoples. UBC has committed to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, developing an Indigenous Strategic Plan that prioritizes the advancement of Indigenous people’s human rights and facilitating open public dialogue about truth, reconciliation, and the recognition of those rights. Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people is consistent with this commitment to UNDRIP and the ISP at UBC.
We stand in opposition to the actions of the federal government, the BC government, and the RCMP that continue to violate the sovereignty and human rights of the Wet’suwet’en people and which attempt to impede the public’s knowledge and awareness of these violations. The obstruction, harassment, and arrests of journalists who attempt to enter these territories and document these activities threaten the fundamental freedom of the press outlined by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
We join land and water protectors in their concern for the health and sustainability of our environment, and the threat that continued extraction, movement, and use of fossil fuels poses to our earth and its viability for humankind and other forms of life. We commit to reducing our use of fossil fuels whenever possible, such as minimizing air and ground travel that relies upon fossil fuels and taking advantage of cleaner technologies to conduct our work and lives.
Signed,
Neil Armitage
Jennifer L. Berdahl
Amanda R. Cheong
Catherine Corrigall-Brown
Gillian Creese
Sylvia Fuller
Amy Hanser
Elizabeth Hirsh
Kimberly R. Huyser
Thomas Kemple
Emily Huddart Kennedy
Sean Lauer
Nathanael Lauster
Renisa Mawani
Michela Musto
Ethan J. Raker
Lindsey Richardson
Oral Robinson
Becki L. Ross
Guy Stecklov
