EDMONTON—Supporters of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs stood arm-in-arm around their railway barricade just outside Edmonton Wednesday afternoon as a man approached each of them with copies of legal documents from CN rail.

“You’ve been served,” he told them.

Moments later, as the blockade of about 40 people began to be dismantled, gleeful cheers erupted from counterprotesters, some of whom had spent the past few hours arguing and yelling at the protesters.

The blockade popped up in early Wednesday morning just west of Alberta’s capital city and lasted for about 10 hours. It was the latest addition to protests aimed at shutting down Canada’s railways in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia, who have been opposing a natural gas pipeline.

And here, in the heart of Canada’s oil country, the scene had at times been tense.

City police and officers with the CN police watched as a group of 15 counterprotesters derided the Wet’suwet’en supporters and swore at them, calling them lawbreakers and “Liberal paid friggin’ protesters,” and trying to break down the barricade the demonstrators had set up.

Some passersby honked their horns in support, while others hurled insults from their car windows.

The demonstrators said they wanted to stay until Prime Minister Justin Trudeau intervened and the RCMP vacated Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia.

“The group is acting in solidarity with thousands of people across Turtle Island (North America) who are calling on the RCMP and Coastal GasLink (CGL) to leave Wet’suwet’en territory immediately,” a statement from the protesters said.

Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have said they will do everything they can to stop Coastal GasLink from building the pipeline, claiming they hold the title and right to determine what happens in their traditional territory, not the elected band councils responsible for decisions on reserves.

Coastal GasLink has maintained it has the support of every elected body on its proposed pipeline route, which is meant to supply natural gas to the B.C. coast, where it would be converted to liquefied natural gas for export. The project would span 670 kilometres from Dawson Creek to Kitimat and is expected to create between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs.

Tents, supplies and food were brought in to the Alberta blockade throughout the day.

As actions against the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet'suwet'en territory continue, it is useful to understand the difference between Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose the pipeline, and the band council members who have supported it.

A 20-year-old student, who wore a black balaclava and would only identify himself as Poundmaker, said that he was “ready to stand by my convictions.”

“Making sure that we have freedom, justice and peace,” he said. “But, yeah, I’m ready to get arrested for that, so that’s how it is.”

He said he knew there would be opposition, but stressed that the protest wasn’t only about pipelines.

“This is about Indigenous sovereignty and Indigenous rights,” he said. “The RCMP forcefully removed Indigenous people from their lands … it’s disturbing.”

But after they were served with the lawsuit notice from CN — and a short conversation amongst themselves about who was prepared to get arrested — most began to pack up so they could leave.

The copies of the CN notice said that the rail protesters were being sued for unlawfully obstructing the railway and that the company was seeking an injunction against them. An Edmonton judge granted CN Rail a 30-day injunction for all of Alberta on Wednesday.

Lawyers said the blockade had held up 14 trains by lunchtime.

Guy Simpson, an oil industry worker, was at the scene for several hours arguing with the protesters. He eventually started grabbing plywood, pallets and barrels, attempting to tear down the main barricade. He said he was simply trying to clean up “litter.”

Hanging above the makeshift blockade was a red dress, symbolizing missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

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Other counterprotesters, who said they’d all just met that day, joined Simpson at the site and helped him as he took barrels and wood away, even dragging a wood pallet down the road lined with vehicles. There were insults thrown, yelling and tears as the two sides debated the situation.

But in the end, the counterprotesters backed a trailer right up to the barricade and began hauling the blockade materials over and throwing them in.

Two of the counter protesters carried away a large sign made out of scrap wood which read, “No consent. Land back” and threw it into a heap in the trailer.

The Wet’suwet’en supporters didn’t try to stop them after they received the court papers from CN rail.

Peter MacKay, currently running for leader of the federal Conservatives, lauded the counterprotesters on Twitter, writing in a now deleted tweet: “Glad to see a couple Albertans with a pickup truck can do more for our economy in an afternoon than Justin Trudeau could do in four years.”

Peter MacKay, currently running for leader of the federal Conservatives, lauded the counterprotesters on Twitter, writing "Glad to see a couple Albertans with a pickup truck can do more for our economy in an afternoon than Justin Trudeau could do in four years." Twitter

Over the past week, blockades across the country in protest of the pipeline have ground many rail services to a halt.

The number of rail workers who have received temporary layoff notices as a result of the ongoing blockades is now approaching 1,500.

First, CN rail said Tuesday it had given notices to 450 of its employees. On Wednesday, Via Rail said it would be doing the same with close to 1,000 of their employees. Although the public passenger rail service plans to resume partial service Thursday between Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa, and regular service in southwestern Ontario, most other routes remain blocked.

In a statement, Cynthia Garneau, president and chief executive officer called the current situation “unprecedented” in the company’s history.

“We have done everything to mitigate the impact on our employees and our passengers. At this point, we believe we have made the fairest and most reasonable decision with the proposed temporary suspension plan.”

The rail blockade near Edmonton on Wednesday drew quick fire from the province’s justice minister, who said online that residents of Alberta “will not be economic hostages to law-breaking extremists.”

Alberta Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer sent a message to the protesters on Twitter: “The blocking of economically critical infrastructure such as rail lines is an offence and will not be tolerated.”

He added that the province supported an injunction.

“It is my expectation that law enforcement will take all appropriate action to enforce the law.”

Some protesters said it was only the beginning, but Simpson said he’d be back if another blockade popped up.

“It’s not gonna happen in our backyard, they will not win. We will win every time,” he said.

“One blockade at a time, I’ll clean it up.”

Simpson and other opponents of the protesters said they saw the blockades as a threat to the economy and jobs in Alberta, which has seen its share of hardships in the past several years due to a downturn in the oil and gas industry.

With files from Joanna Chiu, Tonda MacCharles and The Canadian Press

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