2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests
The 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests were a series of civil disobedience protests held in Canada. The main issue behind the protests was the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline (CGL) through of Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation territory in British Columbia (BC), land that is unceded. Other concerns of the protesters were indigenous land rights, the actions of police, land conservation, and the environmental impact of energy projects. 

Starting in 2010, the Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary chiefs and their supporters made their opposition to the project known and set up a camp directly in the path of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, a path similar to that which would later be proposed for the Coastal GasLink Pipeline. Northern Gateway was officially rejected in 2016, but the CGL project moved through planning, indigenous consultations, environmental reviews and governmental reviews before being approved in 2015. However, the approval of all the Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary chiefs was never granted. In 2018, the backers of the pipeline project gave the go-ahead to the project and it began construction. Access to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline construction camps in Wetʼsuwetʼen territory was blocked and the Coastal GasLink project was granted an injunction in 2018 to remove the land defenders. In January 2019, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of British Columbia removed the blockades and CGL pre-construction work in the territory was completed. Subsequently, the blockades were rebuilt and Coastal GasLink was granted a second injunction by the BC Supreme Court in December 2019 to allow construction.

In February 2020, after the RCMP enforced the second court injunction, removing the Wetʼsuwetʼen blockades and arresting Wetʼsuwetʼen land defenders, solidarity protests sprang up across Canada. Many were rail blockades, including one blockade near Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory which halted traffic along a major Canadian National Railway (CNR) line between Toronto and Montreal and led to a shutdown of passenger rail service and rail freight operations in much of Canada. The Eastern Ontario blockade was itself removed by the Ontario Provincial Police. Blockades and protests continued through March in BC, Ontario and Quebec. Discussions between representatives of the Wetʼsuwetʼen and the governments of Canada and British Columbia have led to a provisional agreement on the Wetʼsuwetʼen land rights in the area.
Q16
Canada
LOC
Q85753148
Coastal GasLink Pipeline
UNK
Q7989949
Wetʼsuwetʼen
Concept
Q392316
First Nation
PER
Q1974
British Columbia
LOC
Q4668392
unceded
Concept
Q5375282
Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines
UNK
Q82813140
land defender
UNK
Q335175
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Concept
Q7644885
BC Supreme Court
MEDIA
Q22951104
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
LOC
Q624798
Canadian National Railway
ORG
Q1046157
Ontario Provincial Police
ORG
Q86478468
2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests
UNK
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2020
DATE
2010-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2010
DATE
2016-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2016
DATE
2015-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2015
DATE
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2018
DATE
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2018
DATE
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
January 2019
DATE
2019-12-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 2019
DATE
2020-02-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
February 2020
DATE
part of