Target: David Pfeiffer, president of Coastal GasLink
Goal: Praise renewed negotiations with Canadian First Nations peoples affected by pipeline construction.
The president of a company constructing a natural gas pipeline through ancestral tribal lands in British Columbia has announced new negotiations with tribal leaders, in an encouraging development for Indigenous Canadians and signers of this petition.
The construction had been set to plow through protected tribal lands, coupled with threats of violence and bureaucratic abuse from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The Wet’suwet’en, a group of some 2,500 Indigenous people, had been protesting the construction because it had been agreed to without their permission. It was discovered in late 2019 that the RCMP had considered deploying snipers against protesters while social workers would be tasked with removing Wet’suwet’en children from their families.However, the Indigenous protesters stood their ground, gaining the attention and sympathy of the world while demanding that their wishes be considered rather than trampled.
Now, refereed by former member of parliament Nathan Cullen, Coastal GasLink and the Wet’suwet’en will sit down to negotiate a better deal, with the Wet’suwet’en promised a financial stake and an equal voice in the pipeline. Sign this letter to thank Mr. Pfeiffer for his willingness to listen to reason and to cooperate with Indigenous peoples.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mr. Pfeiffer,
Your good sense in renegotiating Coastal GasLink’s work in British Columbia represents a significant success for the Wet’suwet’en First Nation and determined people everywhere. Indigenous Canadians have fought long and hard for respect and self-determination, and they don’t deserve to have their rights trampled yet again.
Thank you for your willingness to open a dialogue with these people and treat them more fairly, while deescalating potentially violent confrontations in British Columbia.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Jen Castro
243 Signatures