SUPER-DUPER NON-COLONIAL PRESS CONFERENCE (a summary)
by Tasha Diaman
June 2, 2021
On June 1, 2021, BC Premier “Lie and Log” Horgan held a bogus press conference to “address” forestry issues. He said “fibre”and “value-added” a lot and talked about how fancy the Old Growth Strategic Review is—even though it came out last year and it recommended a deferral on old growth logging, but old growth logging went up 43% instead.
This time stuff is really gonna happen in 2023! Forests Minister Katrine Conroy is excited!
Horgan did not directly talk about the forest protectors known as the “Fairy Creek Blockade” and the thousands of people in the streets supporting the blockaders until a reporter asked him how he would address protesters’ disappointment with his so-called plan.
In other words, the premier is suggesting that his order to deploy RCMP to arrest what is now around 150 unarmed nonviolent forests protectors DOING THE JOB HE PROMISED TO DO (and SPECIFICALLY TARGETING Indigenous people), is NOT a return to colonialism.
Oh, and by the way, he also said, “the government does not direct law enforcement.” Nope, some guy in the RCMP's Cowichan detachment must have ordered millions of dollars worth of militarized personnel and materiel.
AND he’s using the horrific discovery on May 27 of 215 secretly buried Indigenous children at a residential school in Kamloops, BC, as a rhetorical tool to show how super non-colonial he is.
The premier emphasized that the most important responsibility is to consult First Nations.
But he has never met with Elder Bill Jones of the Pacheedaht whose leadership and invitation to be on the land is the galvanizing force of the ancient forest protectors.
Bill Jones has convincingly disputed the legitimacy of two men claiming to speak for the Pacheedaht who submitted a letter asking that “third parties” leave the area. This letter has been repeatedly used by NDP government officials—it’s almost the only statement anyone in the government has made until this June 1 performance by the premier and Minister Conroy—to reinforce, once again, their TOTALLY NOT COLONIAL invasion of the area.
ALSO The Capital Daily, on May 18, 2021, published a story saying that the Premier’s office, in a doublespeak version of “consultation” with the two dudes who should have no say anyway, actually ORCHESTRATED the writing of the letter.
And while he’s being all non-colonial and all at his press conference, 9 more unarmed forest protectors are arrested, two of whom were minors denied support of police liaisons or legal observers.
He said, “the critical recommendation that's at play [from the Old Growth Strategic Review] at Fairy Creek is consulting with the title holders... in this instance the Pacheedaht... [and the Ditidaht and the Huwayut]... if we were to arbitrarily put deferrals in place there that would be a return to the colonialism that we have so graphically been brought back to as a result of issues in Kamloops this week.”
In other words, the premier is suggesting that his order to deploy RCMP to arrest what is now around 150 unarmed nonviolent forests protectors DOING THE JOB HE PROMISED TO DO (and SPECIFICALLY TARGETING Indigenous people), is NOT a return to colonialism.
Oh, and by the way, he also said, “the government does not direct law enforcement.” Nope, some guy in the RCMP's Cowichan detachment must have ordered millions of dollars worth of militarized personnel and materiel.
AND he’s using the horrific discovery on May 27 of 215 secretly buried Indigenous children at a residential school in Kamloops, BC, as a rhetorical tool to show how super non-colonial he is.
The premier emphasized that the most important responsibility is to consult First Nations.
But he has never met with Elder Bill Jones of the Pacheedaht whose leadership and invitation to be on the land is the galvanizing force of the ancient forest protectors.
Bill Jones has convincingly disputed the legitimacy of two men claiming to speak for the Pacheedaht who submitted a letter asking that “third parties” leave the area. This letter has been repeatedly used by NDP government officials—it’s almost the only statement anyone in the government has made until this June 1 performance by the premier and Minister Conroy—to reinforce, once again, their TOTALLY NOT COLONIAL invasion of the area.
ALSO The Capital Daily, on May 18, 2021, published a story saying that the Premier’s office, in a doublespeak version of “consultation” with the two dudes who should have no say anyway, actually ORCHESTRATED the writing of the letter.
Recap:
- John Horgan stands up in front of British Columbians and makes reference to the atrocity of a secret burial ground of 215 Indigenous children.
- He makes a big deal about how non-colonial he is. Super non-colonial.
- He states that consultation with Indigenous people is his most important value but he won’t talk to the actual Indigenous leadership at the blockades.
- He doesn’t address the targeting of and violence done to Indigenous people at the blockades by RCMP (or by certain groups of loggers who threatened and beat people and who have never been arrested).
- The only “consultation” he’s done is engage with fake Indigenous leadership and get them to write a fake letter.
- He pretends he hasn’t ordered the insanely costly—both in terms of tax dollars and destroying democracy—deployment of the RCMP who have arrested around 150 peaceful people.
And while he’s being all non-colonial and all at his press conference, 9 more unarmed forest protectors are arrested, two of whom were minors denied support of police liaisons or legal observers.
-end-
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