Gitanyow hereditary chiefs and members of the Kispiox Valley community established a checkpoint and blockade on August 26th at the Cranberry Junction and highway 37, about two hours northeast of Terrace.
According to the group, the blockade was erected to stop LNG trucks and workers from accessing a worksite in preparation for construction of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline (PGRT), which would carry gas from Northeast B.C. to an LNG facility near the mouth of the Nass River.
In a statement, Nisga’a president, Eva Clayton said, “We do respect our peaceful and lawful protest, but those who block roads do not represent the majority of all of us who are excited about this Indigenous-owned gas pipeline.”
CICK News talked to Richard Mercer of the Nisga’a Nation who has put up his own blockade on the other side of the Cranberry Junction near New Aiyansh, on Nisga’a lands. He organised a petition calling for a stop to construction.
Also, Deborah Good, a hereditary chief of the Gitanyow Nation whose territory borders Nisga’a lands.
