Tag Archive for: BC Provincial Health Officer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

December 9, 2020

Organizations and concerned individuals have signed a letter addressed to Dr. Bonnie Henry urging B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer to listen to Wet’suwet’en women and support the health and safety of their communities by shutting down LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink facilities and work camps amid COVID-19 outbreaks.

As stated in the letter Wet’suwet’en women sent to Dr. Bonnie Henry on November 30, these work camps do not have the capacity to isolate all COVID-19 positive workers and often send some home to cohabitate with elders and other community members.

“As a result of ongoing colonialism and racism in the health care system, Indigenous peoples are at increased risk with COVID-19 due to underlying health concerns. The loss of elders and knowledge-keepers poses enormous intergenerational cultural impacts for these communities,” says the letter signed by multiple organizations and individuals.

“Keeping these work camps open only perpetuates the harm of colonization and puts economic gain ahead of the health and cultural wellbeing of these communities. Respectfully, we request that the B.C. government prioritize the health of Wet’suwet’en peoples and respect their ask to shut down work camps due to increasing COVID-19 concerns.”

You can read the full letter here. It has been signed by:

Sierra Club BC
Council of Canadians
My Sea to Sky
Wilderness Committee
Dr. Tim K. Takaro, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Charlene Aleck, Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative
Christy Ferguson, Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada
Stand.earth
350.org
Watershed Sentinel Educational Society
RAVEN Trust
PIPE UP Network
Glasswaters Foundation
Center for Sustainable Economy
Gulf Islands Front Lines
Our Time Vancouver

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