Wet'suwet'en Chief Leads Protest Against Coastal Gaslink Pipeline Project

A Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief bringing light to opposition surrounding the Coastal Gaslink pipeline project.

A Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief bringing light to opposition surrounding the Coastal Gaslink pipeline project.

John Risdale, along with other chiefs, are nearing the end of a tour of Indigenous communities across the country, which they have used to press their case about the pipeline project.

Risdale says he and counterparts from other clans have never surrendered rights to 22,000 square kilometres of traditional territory in northern British Columbia and have not consented to the pipeline project itself.

In Vancouver, Risdale told a rally the event was part of a `larger struggle to empower the Wet'suwet'en Nation'' against drilling under the river for the natural gas pipeline, and to connect Indigenous communities grappling with the effects of climate change.

While 20 elected First Nations band councils along the route have signed off on the project, which also has the approval of the B.C. government, Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs have opposed the pipeline for years.

The projected cost of the Coastal GasLink pipeline has recently jumped 70 per cent to $11.2 billion. It was pegged at about $6 billion just last month.

Construction and testing is scheduled to be complete next year.