Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – May 21, 2021: The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has written to the provincial government and RCMP Commissioner condemning the arbitrary and unlawful RCMP Exclusion Zone in unceded Ditidaht territory. The RCMP have established two checkpoints and roadblocks along the McClure Main and Caycuse Main roads near the Fairy Creek blockade against old-growth logging.

In an open letter to Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Strachan, the BCCLA notes that the RCMP’s actions are overbroad in scope and constitute an inconsistent, arbitrary, and illegal exercise of police discretion to block members of the public, including legal observers and the media, from accessing the area. The roadblocks also cut off an important emergency route to the Ditidaht First Nation reserve near Nitinat Lake.

According to BCCLA Staff Counsel Veronica Martisius, “The BCCLA is deeply disturbed by the RCMP exclusion zone near the Fairy Creek blockades on unceded Ditidaht territory. There is nothing in the injunction that prohibits movement in the area or peaceful protest. The RCMP, by their actions, are showing blatant disregard for Indigenous rights and the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. This situation is alarmingly reminiscent of what occurred in Wet’suwet’en territories last year.”