Protesters march through Toronto’s financial district in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en land defenders
Protesters march through the financial centre of downtown Toronto. (Aidan Jonah/The Canada FIles)
Written by: Aidan Jonah
Hundreds of protesters came out in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders and protested the financial support given by Canada’s big banks to oil companies.
The Context
On Dec. 26, 2019, TC Energy (formerly Trans Canada) sold 65 percent of their 100 percent stake in their Coastal GasLink pipeline Project. Most of the project is now owned by KKR and AIMco. KKR is a private Korean investment corporation while AIMco (Alberta Investment Management Corporation) is a crown corporation.
RBC is now TC Energy’s sole financial advisor to the project. HSBC and TD are acting as KKR’s financial advisors.
Five days later, the BC Supreme Court granted an injuction against the Wet’suwet’en land defenders in northern BC.” This was in response to the maintenance of the Un’istot’en Camp, which had delayed the building of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) natural gas pipeline.
Recently, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs representing all five clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation have issued an eviction notice to the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline company.
The protest
Vanessa Gray of the Porcupine Warriors said she helped organize the protest to reveal Toronto’s “direct connection to the CGL and the violence which is happening to the Wet’suwet’en people. Gray hopes to bring awareness to the solidarity between Indigenous nations across Canada.
The protesters marched throughout the financial district of downtown Toronto, taking up entire intersections at once.
They stopped at the offices of RBC, AIMco, HSBC and TD. During each stop, speakers passionately attacked Canada’s big banks and the Canadian court system.
Beze Gray attacked the BC Supreme Court, calling it a “colonial court that will continue to uphold its own capital by lying, cheating and stealing.”
Dani Michie, a Climate Justice Toronto representative, accused AIMco and RBC of “valuing profits over human lives and the very future of the [Earth].” She slammed the BC Supreme Court for issuing the injunction on New Year’s Eve and refusing to acknowledge that “the land of the Wet’suwet’en is unceded.”
The march came to a close near the Toronto offices of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Protesters including Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan and former MP Roméo Saganash blocked off the intersection of King St and Bay St for a period of 15 minutes. During that time, they locked hands and participated in a Round Dance ceremony.