Trans Mountain pipeline protesters gather at Kamloops court

A group of protesters gathered in front of the Kamloops courthouse to oppose the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and support Secwepemc members that are due to appear in court today.

Miranda Dick, spokesperson for We the Secwépemc Unity Camp to Stop the Trans Mountain Pipeline and a Secwepemc matriarch, along with seven others were arrested in October 2020 while protesting the pipeline expansion in Kamloops.

They were arrested for allegedly breaching a court order prohibiting the prevention of operation at the pipeline site.

Dick will appear in Kamloops court today, March 1, representing herself.

She alleges there is a "clear conflict of interest" between the Canadian government's interest in seeing the TMX pipeline expansion through and the Canadian court system. Because of this, she hopes to have the courts provide a third-party organization to oversee the charges.

READ MORE: The resistance to TMX pipeline expansion will be quilted

"The courts have not made it clear to the eight arrested water defenders whether their charges will be civil or criminal and have refused to accept documents from Hereditary Chief Saw-ses concerning the lack of jurisdiction they have on Secwepemc Territory," a media statement from We the Secwépemc Unity Camp to Stop the Trans Mountain Pipeline said.

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