A Gidimt鈥檈n member who made headlines last year when she filed a lawsuit against Coastal GasLink (CGL) and two other companies for the destruction of the Gidimt鈥檈n checkpoint camp in January is throwing her weight behind Mike Sawyer, Green Party candidate for Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

鈥淚f you consider yourself a citizen of this community, if you consider yourself somebody who cares about the climate, who cares about the environment and who cares about justice for Indigenous people, vote Mike Sawyer,鈥� said Molly Wickham in a video that was posted to Sawyer鈥檚 campaign website and Facebook page Wednesday.

In the video, Wickham mentioned she normally does not participate in 鈥渃olonial politics,鈥� instead preferring to focus her energy on Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n governance, but that she is making the endorsement because she feels it鈥檚 a critical time.

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鈥淚 believe that Mike Sawyer for the Green Party has great potential to make hard decisions to tell the hard truths about our reality and to support Indigenous communities.

鈥淭he Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n, we have been struggling with LNG coming through and forcing their way through our territories. Mike Sawyer has been very vocal about his opposition to LNG projects, has been very vocal about his support for Indigenous communities, Indigenous sovereignty and our rights to defend our territories.鈥�

Wickham said she believes these issues are critical, especially compounded with the climate crisis facing the Earth.

鈥淚 believe that these issues are critical at this time when we鈥檙e facing 鈥� the depletion and the near extinction of our salmon stocks coming into our territories where there鈥檚 so many threats to these territories that help us all survive.

鈥淲e need somebody who鈥檚 not afraid to stand up and tell the truth 鈥� we need somebody who鈥檚 not afraid to work with the Indigenous people.鈥�

Sawyer said he was humbled by the endorsement.

鈥淚鈥檓 absolutely thrilled and honoured that someone of Molly鈥檚 stature in the community would consider endorsing me and the Green Party.鈥�

Sawyer has previously been very vocal about his support for both Indigenous rights and title and basing reconciliation framework on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

鈥淲e see governments paying a lot of lip service to this notion of reconciliation and title and support for UNDRIP and other aspects of this and yet when we have a situation like we have with CGL 鈥� whenever the interests of the government and the interest of multinational corporations are at stake, all of the talk about reconciliation goes out the window.

鈥淲e have a complete disconnect between what we want to say 鈥� versus how we actually behave and we have to align our behaviour with what we鈥檙e saying we believe.鈥�

In terms of Indigenous rights and title, Sawyer said he believes that Indigenous groups have a sovereign right to their lands, noting the question is not just one of practicality, but of legality and morality as well.

鈥淢ost of the Indigenous communities and leaders of those communities that I鈥檝e talked to 鈥� I don鈥檛 think they have an expectation that they鈥檙e suddenly going to own all of this land, what they want is to have title to some portion of the land,鈥� Sawyer said, adding his own feelings about sovereign rights in the case of unceded Indigenous territories.

鈥淚 think technically if you want to drill right down to the legal and constitutional essence of it, yes they probably do have title to that land.鈥�

Sawyer is well known in the northern B.C. environmental scene, where he has been involved in multiple complaints with the National Energy Board (NEB) over proposed pipeline developments.

Most recently, on July 26 the NEB disagreed with a legal challenge Sawyer made that TC Energy鈥檚 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline from the northeast of B.C. to Kitimat falls under federal jurisdiction.

Sawyer has previously told The Interior 亚洲天堂 he will not be appealing the NEB decision, but remains opposed to both LNG and CGL.

鈥淚f it could be demonstrated that LNG was in the public interest, I would support it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 support it because I don鈥檛 believe it is in the public interest and no one鈥檚 demonstrated to me that it is.鈥�