Pipelines & Exploitation of the Earth

Solidarity Disruption and Experimentation on the CP and AMT railroad

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Dec 072020

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

Early in the evening of Friday November 27th in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal, Canadian Pacific (freight) and AMT (commuter trains) traffic was interrupted as a response to the Coast to Coast call to Action* against the continued violent invasion of unceded Indigenous territory by militarized colonial police forces.

A thick (thickness of a pencil) 13ft copper wire was tightly wrapped around (twice per rail just to make sure) and across the rails, completing a circuit that mimics a train passing, thus temporarily blocking off this section of the railroad until a maintenance crew is called, the wire found, the rails inspected, etc. The activation of train signal lights behind and ahead of us on the tracks allowed us to confirm it worked, though nearby crossing barriers didn’t go down to stop car traffic as expected. Our understanding is that maybe given the direction of the next train scheduled to pass, the obstruction created was understood by their system as being a train that had already passed the crossing. It is also unclear whether this works further away from electrical infrastructure where the current on the rails might not be as strong.

More experimentation – and sharing our findings – is certainly needed but we believe this method to be quick and simple enough to be replicated without much expertise or training. Police repression is also quite difficult given the scale of railroad networks in and around cities. Make sure to plan everything as securely as you would any similar action. Prepare and discuss things only with people involved and do so away from phones and other electronics equipped with microphones and geolocation systems. Make sure there is no way to identify you while gathering information (via Tor Browser or a VPN for online browsing), acquiring the tools you need, leaving the area, and finally broadcasting your action if necessary. Keep in mind cameras, fingerprints, DNA, footprints, and contextual risks (e.g. electrical current, police, falling) at all times before, during, and after the action.

As seen time and time again, the only language understood by the Canadian state is the disruption of the circulation of goods, labor, and capital. Last winter, Indigenous land protectors and settler accomplices have shown that the Canadian colonial project is nothing more than a few population hubs linked to extractive areas by vulnerable transport infrastructure. Colonial laws are illegitimate on Indigenous territory and they will always be disregarded in the fight against the genocide of Indigenous people.

*https://www.yintahaccess.com/videos

Ontario: Solidarity with Indigenous Land Defenders

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Nov 162020

Anonymous submissions to North Shore Counter-info

OPP collaborators, we see you!
November 6, 2020

UAV Tower Innovations is a drone company that is being paid by the OPP to spy on indigenous land defenders. Their publicly listed address is 403138 Grey Rd 4, Durham. Last night we spraypainted a message on their driveway:
OPP COLLABORATORS
WE SEE YOU!
WE ARE WATCHING YOU
NO JUSTICE ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND

This is a warning, keep your drones away from the front lines.

Love and solidarity to indigenous people taking back their land!

***

Hamilton: John A MacDonald Statue Painted Red
November 9, 2020

Early in the morning on November 9th, a few of us tread into the night to pay visit to Sir John A Macdonald in Gore park downtown Hamilton. With a loaded fire extinguisher, we painted him red, symbolizing his blood-soaked legacy. We did this in solidarity with the land defenders out 1492 Landback Lane, our neighbors from Six Nations, who are facing intense police violence in their attempt to save their land from another cheap and hollow suburban development.

Fuck John A and his genocidal power project, the state of Canada. A racist – even for his times – he solidified the colonial relationship and ensured the continued landtheft from Indigenous peoples. Fuck every prime minister right down the chain, including Justin Trudeau and his empty reconciliation rhetoric. Once again see the state refusing to meet the land defenders of any Nation with the respect and sovereignty they pay lip service to. And fuck the OPP. A.C.A.B.

It is time to honour the call of Indigenous people everywhere when they say LAND BACK. Come to the support of the Natives you live close to, whether that’s the Mi’kmaq fishermen fighting their right to trap out east to the Tiny House Warriors on the west coast pushing back against the TransMountain pipeline. Anytime you undermine symbols or infrastructure the state, you weaken its claim to permanence. All that was built can be torn down, just like the roads out at Sixth Line.

Lessons from this action: Fire extinguishers full of paint are rapid, quiet, & effective tools! Find a guide to how to fill them on mtlcounterinfo.org (but use Tor browser to visit it).

Seeds of Resistance: A New Resource for Land Defense

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Oct 262020

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

As the world falls apart around us we turn to the land more than ever.

This site is meant as a resource for resisting pipelines and other exploitative industrial projects. It is full of information for ideas and action when the process has failed, when permits have been granted, and there is nothing left but our own selves to protect the land.

Visit https://seedsofresistance.noblogs.org/ (with TOR or a safe VPN/browser combo!) and find all the things you’ve been looking for to ignite ideas and action.

Joint Statement by Secwepemc & Gidimt’en Land Defenders

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Oct 192020

From Tiny House Warriors & Gidimt’en Checkpoint

October 16, 2020

Pipeline companies threaten violence to communities, salmon and wildlife with drilling under sacred headwaters.

(Unceded Yintah / Secwepemcúĺecw Territories): Coastal Gaslink pipeline in Wet’suwet’en territory and Trans Mountain Pipeline in Secwepemc territory are both currently preparing to drill under our clear rivers, from which we have drawn sustenance since time immemorial.

In the past few days we have seen Indigenous women interrupted during ceremonies in both territories, and arrests and incarcerations in Secwepemc territories, for enacting their sacred responsibilities. The Trans Mountain Pipeline weaves through over 900 rivers and creeks, threatening both Secwepemcetkwe (Thompson) and Fraser River systems. The North Thompson is connected to the Adams River, a vital spawning habitat for chinook, coho, and pink salmon, and home to one of the most important sockeye runs in the world. Any leakage would immediately threaten the pacific salmon who spawn in the Secwepemcetkwe (Thompson) and Fraser River basins.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister dated November 26, 2016, our late Secwepemc leader Arthur Manuel wrote to Trudeau:

“The salmon and the rivers they inhabit have taken care of our people for centuries and we are obligated as Secwepemc people to protect the Thompson River system for future generations.”

In this the Secwepemc stand in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people, who have been fighting to protect Wedzin Kwa (Morice River) from pipeline incursions for over a decade. Wetʼsuwetʼen means “People of the lower drainage” and Wet’suwet’en people’s lives are inseparable from the life of the Wedzin Kwa river, which we have protected for thousands of years, and which has in turn fed us and governed us through our hereditary leaders and knowledge-keepers.

Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, spokesperson of the Gidimt’en Checkpoint, states:

At this time our rivers, the lifeblood of our nations, are facing drills, toxins and invaders. Indigenous people are standing up to state violence, big industry and corporate greed for the future of all of humanity–of all life on our yintah. We stand with our Secwepemc relatives in their struggle and ask all Indigenous peoples and our allies to stand up for the salmon, the clean drinking water, the animals and our future generations. We will not let them kill us. We will always be here.

Over the last two decades we have witnessed the dramatic decline of our salmon as a result of toxic extractive and urban development on our territory, as well as fish farms, invasive species, and climate change. These pipeline expansions pose the most direct risk yet.

The drilling alone threatens not only salmon spawning habitat but the balance of the entire ecosystem and food chain they rely upon. The sockeye are tenacious, fighting their way thousands of kilometres upstream from the Pacific Ocean to reach their spawning beds in Secwepemc territory. Wedzin Kwa joins the Skeena and runs through the canyons out to the Pacific Ocean. We cannot risk putting any more obstacles in the salmons’ way.

Our traditional land users and stewards—those who exercise our right to hunt, fish, gather, and practice our culture—are the ones who truly understand the potential impacts of the pipeline. It is these members of our nations who will feel the effects of the pipeline on our rights and our food sovereignty most acutely. It is these members who have authority over our lands the government of Canada has failed most.

When we protect our rivers from invading industries, and insist on our rights to fish and hunt on our territories, we are criminalized, harassed and jailed. In Secwepemc territory, there were 5 arrests yesterday and 3 indigenous land defenders were sentenced to 28 days in Canadian jail.

By refusing to seek the free prior and informed consent of our people, and instead opting to sign deals and agreements with a few of our federal Indian bands, the government of Canada has undermined the authority of the proper rights and title holders of Secwepemcúl’ecw and the Wet’suwet’en yintah.

Shut Down Canada

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Oct 172020

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

Right now in Mi’kma’ki, commercial fishermen are physically threatening, intimidating and harassing Indigenous people over their livelihood catch of lobster. The violence has escalated in the past few days, and seems likely to continue to escalate. The RCMP have been filmed allowing commercial fishermen to steal and poison lobster, burn vehicles, smash windows, throw rocks at Mi’kmaq people and attack chiefs and women.

What’s happening in Mi’kma’ki is a prime example of how race operates in so-called Canada, with the state protecting the side of big business and using white working-class people to project their force onto the non-white population. Examples of this can be found all over the country.

In August, 27km camp on Wet’suwet’en yintah was burned to the ground by arsonists, and somehow the state has no leads or interest in pursuing the case, even though there were public facebook posts calling for that specific action to be carried out.

In Secwepmeculecw the Tiny House Warriors have faced near constant harrassment from white supremacists who even set up a camp and barbeque within a stone’s throw from Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit folks in order to harass and intimidate them.

In Algonquin territory non-Indigenous hunters continue to disrespect and threaten Indigenous people on their own territory, who are protecting the moose population from being over-hunted.

In Six Nations territory the police continue to harass and arrest Indigenous people, unchecked by us the greater community at large.

When is enough enough? Why aren’t we shutting the country down? The white supremacist settler state cannot continue unchecked. There must be action. This is a callout to all settlers and supporters to take actions where you stand, how you see fit. Transportation routes are vulnerable, we proved this in the spring. It doesn’t take many people carrying out subversive actions to cause the state immense damage.

Take action now. What are we waiting for?

Protect the Headwaters! Wet’suwet’en Resist Coastal Gaslink

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Oct 162020

From It’s Going Down

Update on continued struggle to resist the Coastal GasLink pipeline threatening the Wedzin Kwa headwaters on Wet’suwet’en territory. For more info, follow Gidimt’en Checkpoint.

Our headwaters are under attack. Our way of life is at risk. Coastal Gaslink is weeks away from test drilling beneath Wedzin Kwa – the river that feeds all of Wet’suwet’en territory and gives life to our nation.

We continue to reoccupy our territories – to prepare our foods, to hold our ceremonies, to teach our children what it means to be Wet’suwet’en.

We have to protect ourselves. We have to protect what we have at all costs.
We need your support now more than ever.

A message from Sleydo, Molly Wickham, spokesperson for the Gidimt’en Checkpoint.

Visit www.yintahaccess.com to come stand with us, to donate, or to find out ways you can help.

New Communiqué Poster: Arson of CN Signal Box

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Aug 132020

11 x 17″ | PDF

Direct action in so called BC

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Aug 112020

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

Editorial Note: MTL Counter-info typically publishes content from or directly related to so-called Quebec. This submission contains information that can be difficult to publish, so we are making an exception.

On August 3, in so called Smithers BC, we attacked Val’s Drilling rig #004, using the accelerant in plastic bottles and firestarter cube method. After receiving word that the drill had arrived in Smithers, we departed from Prince George immediately. After arriving in Smithers and getting our bearings, we posted up at the park across the street from the hotel that the drill was parked at. After gathering sufficient Intel, a plan was developed, and the decision to act in the early morning was agreed upon. After the device was planted and ignited, we immediately left back to prince George via highway 16. We believe that firm action is required to ensure that CGL does not drill underneath the Wedzin Kwah, by whatever means necessary. Solidarity with our Haudenoshaunee brothers and sisters facing off with the OPP pigs. No state militia sponsored industry on the stolen land that is Turtle Island.

Hamilton: Rail Sabotage in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en struggle

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May 212020

Anonymous submission to North Shore Counter-Info

Using the jumper-cable and wires method described elsewhere the track signalling system on a CN mainline in Hamilton was sabotaged last week. This was done in continuing solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and land protectors. Work on TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline continues without the consent of the chiefs and despite the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the chiefs with BC and Kanada. the colonial governments and capitalist industry do not indicate that they will respect the sovereignty of the Wet’suwet’en.

This action was done to support and amplify this struggle and to encourage others to expand solidarity actions beyond letter writing and phone ins. Especially with KKR investment firm’s final investment decision in CGL later this month it is important to continue pressure. The RCMP and CGL mancamps aren’t respecting social distancing but we can still social distance and shut shit down!

Ontario: Three Railway Sabotage Actions in Solidarity with Land Defenders

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Mar 082020

Anonymous submission to North Shore Counter-Info

It seems worth sharing that we have managed to shut down, (if only for a few to several hours), different rail lines in Southern Ontario using the ol’ copper wire technique. We did this three separate times targeting a junction in Milton, on lines that connect Kitchener-Waterloo to Toronto and Burlington. Using paper maps to follow where lines go, we had fun finding places to act with most impact. We learned more about how this was done following some of the other informative and inspiring posts here on North Shore.

These have been quick, successful, and gleeful ways to contribute to the efforts behind Shut Down Canada. Clandestine sabotages are meaningful tactics to popularize and normalize for many reasons:

-repression easily takes an upper hand in public protest

-it takes very little time out of one’s life to sabotage a line with copper wire, (once at a site, maybe 15 minutes or a bit more if the connection is not ideal at first)

-you can do this alone or with just one trusted person. This fact alone makes risk really very low

-social media posts and populating a google map of actions are not the end goal of settler solidarity The goal is to align with land defenders in actions that are strategic and that send fear into the hearts of the immensely powerful industries they are up against

-it is good for our hearts to strike back in these ways

towards the many beautiful possibilities!

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