Chief Dsta'hyl of the Wet'suwet'en Nation appears via videoconference from his home as he is under house arrest, as he is announced by Amnesty International as Canada's first-ever prisoner of conscience, during a news conference in West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on July 31. The announcement marks the first time that Amnesty has declared a person held in Canada as a prisoner of conscience.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Amnesty International has named a First Nations leader in British Columbia as its first prisoner of conscience in Canada and is calling for his unconditional release from house arrest for efforts to prevent the construction of a pipeline.
At issue is the treatment of Wet’suwet’en Chief Dsta’hyl, also known as Adam Gagnon, now serving a 60-day sentence for interference in the 2021 construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in B.C.
On trial, the chief and his supporters faced allegations of seizing heavy equipment and disabling it, and participating in blockages of the road to a pipeline camp. He was convicted of criminal contempt of court and sentenced on July 3.
“Today, Canada joins the shameful list of countries where prisoners of conscience remain under house arrest or behind bars,” Ana Piquer, the Americas director at the global human-rights organization, told a news conference held Wednesday on Parliament Hill.
Ms. Piquer said this is not the first time a prisoner of conscience has been designated based on house arrest, which deprives a person of liberty. She said the chief merely exercised his human rights.
While many Indigenous groups along the project’s pathway support the pipeline, the hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs, whose territory the pipeline crosses, do not.
In highlighting his case, Amnesty International representatives promised further declarations depending on the sentences other activists receive. Ms. Piquer said Amnesty International is watching the cases of three other individuals.
“If the remaining land defenders are convicted and imprisoned, Amnesty International will have no choice but to designate them as well as prisoners of conscience. That must be very clear,” David Matsinhe, director of policy, advocacy and research at Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section, told the news conference.
He said Canada is failing Indigenous people within its borders despite touting its commitment to human rights.
Work on the 670-kilometre pipeline across Northern British Columbia was completed last year. The project is intended to transport natural gas to LNG Canada’s liquefied natural gas export terminal, under construction in Kitimat on the West Coast.
In 2018, a B.C. Supreme Court judge granted Coastal GasLink an injunction to ensure pipeline workers were not blocked by Indigenous demonstrators or their supporters, and Mr. Gagnon was among those arrested by the RCMP in 2021 as part of the force’s enforcement of the injunction.
But Ms. Piquer criticized the legal action.
“The Canadian state has unjustly criminalized and confined Chief Dsta’hyl for defending the land, water and rights of the Wet’suwet’en people,” she said.
Ms. Piquer said the declaration has led to the release of prisoners in such locations as Venezuela, but that she had no statistics to provide.
“It’s a campaigning tactic, in the end, that we have used all over the world and that has allowed for releases in many countries for decades now,” she said. “The main key to success has to do with the fact that we bring the eyes of the whole world to the case.”
Speaking from his B.C. home, Mr. Gagnon thanked Amnesty International for its support.
“I am, even though I am serving my sentence here in house arrest, really grateful there for Amnesty International to pick up this, basically a hot ball and run with it,” he told the news conference.
The Globe and Mail raised the Amnesty International declaration with several departments of the federal government.
Jean-Sébastien Comeau responded on behalf of Dominic LeBlanc, the Public Safety Minister. He referred questions about the situation to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the BC Prosecution Service. In turn, Nathalie Houle, a spokesperson for the federal service, referred questions to the BC Prosecution Service, saying the issue falls under the jurisdiction of her provincial counterpart.
Damienne Darby, a spokesperson for the BC Prosecution Service, said in a statement that the service could not comment on the case because Mr. Gagnon filed an appeal of his conviction on July 22.
TC Energy Corporation, which is the operator and part owner of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, said in a statement that it could not comment on the Amnesty International announcement because an appeal has been filed in legal proceedings in the case.