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Staff Sergeant Janelle Shoihet said the RCMP were aware of the chief’s request “to remove a mobile policing unit from an area in northern British Columbia where they enforced an injunction against pipeline opponents this month.”

She said discussions were underway with all stakeholders.

An emergency debate was also held in the House of Commons on Tuesday night to consider the Wet’suwet’en blockades. According to Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan, who was at the debate, Bennett told the house she would not agree to asking the RCMP to leave the forest service road. Given Bennett is in Ottawa, it is unlikely she would be available for a meeting called at short notice.

The latest drama in the continuing anti-pipeline crisis came as a meeting was called for Wednesday afternoon in Houston B.C. to hear from Wet’suwet’en members who are in favour of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

“This event is meant to be a safe place for people who support the project to be heard,” said organizer Steve Simon, who is a Victoria-based resource advocate working with the Kitimat-based group The North Matters. The event starts at 2 p.m. at the Pleasant Valley Plaza Theatre.

Simon said that six speakers had promised to show up, but he would not name them because he claimed they would be subject to threats from other Wet’suwet’en members.

“The situation in the past few weeks has blown out of control across the nation,” Simon said.

SunMedia

What started as a localized protest by Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed to the natural gas pipeline being laid through Wet’suwet’en territory has turned into a Canada-wide protest, with a wide-range of activists blocking roads, railways and access to government buildings.