Timeline of the 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests facts for kids

The 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests began because of disagreements over the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project. This project was planned to cross lands belonging to the Wetʼsuwetʼen people in British Columbia (BC), Canada. While some Indigenous groups supported the pipeline, the hereditary chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen opposed it. This led to protests and blockades across Canada.

Understanding the 2020 Canadian Protests

Key Events by Month

January Events

• January 7 – The United Nations (UN) Committee on Racial Discrimination asked Canada to stop building the Coastal GasLink (CGL) and Trans Mountain pipelines, as well as the Site C dam.
• January 7 – People in Hamilton, Ontario, blocked three railway junctions. This stopped all train traffic in and out of the city.
• January 8 – Protesters in Hamilton, Ontario, blocked a main road and a railway crossing to support the Wet'suwet'en.
• January 11 – BC Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender suggested stopping the CGL pipeline. She said this should happen until the affected Indigenous groups agreed to the construction.
• January 16 – A UN committee leader, Noureddine Amir, later said he didn't know that many Indigenous groups, besides the Wet'suwet'en, actually supported the CGL project.
• January 16 – Karen Ogen-Toews, a former Wetʼsuwetʼen elected chief, wrote to the UN. She asked them to apologize to the 20 First Nations who were in favor of the project.
• January 20 – Protesters disrupted BC ferry service from Swartz Bay ferry terminal, a main link to the BC mainland.
• January 27 – BC Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth declared a provincial emergency. He allowed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to use more resources to enforce a court order.
• January 30 – The RCMP announced they would step back. This allowed the hereditary chiefs and the province to meet and try to reach an agreement.

February Events

• February 1 – The Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen told the Coastal GasLink Pipeline construction camp to leave their territory.
• February 3 – The Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary chiefs asked for a court review of the pipeline's environmental approval.
• February 4 – Talks between the hereditary chiefs and the Government of British Columbia broke down.
• February 6 – The RCMP began enforcing the court order. They arrested 21 people at camps along the pipeline route over several days.
• February 6 – Near Belleville, Ontario, members of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation started blocking a Canadian National Railway (CNR) line. This line was very important for CNR's network in Eastern Canada.
• February 6 – Via Rail canceled trains on its Toronto–Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa routes. Many train cancellations continued daily.
• February 8 – Support protests happened in Toronto and Ottawa.
• February 8 – A blockade started on the Exo Candiac line south of Montreal in Kahnawake.
• February 10 – Many support rallies took place in cities like Nelson, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Sherbrooke, and Halifax.
• February 10 – Police in Metro Vancouver arrested 47 people. They were blocking the Port of Vancouver, Deltaport, and two other ports.
• February 10 – Another blockade went up on the CNR line west of Winnipeg. This blocked the main trans-Canada passenger rail route.
• February 11 – Passenger train service between Prince George and Prince Rupert was stopped.
• February 11 – The RCMP announced that the road to the construction site was clear. TC Energy said work would start again soon.
• February 11 – A support rally surrounded the BC Legislature in Victoria. This prevented traditional ceremonies for the Throne Speech.
• February 13 – CNR shut down its rail lines east of Toronto.
• February 13 – Via Rail announced it was shutting down almost its entire network. Only a few remote lines remained open.
• February 15 – The rail blockade of Prince Rupert was lifted.
• February 15 – Over 200 people blocked Macmillan Yard, Canada's second-largest rail yard, in support.
• February 15 – Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller met with the Mohawks. They discussed the blockade and a 17th-century treaty. Miller asked for the protest to pause, but the request was refused. Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary Chief Woos said the RCMP was still on his territory, threatening them.
• February 16 – A protest temporarily blocked the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
• February 17 – Another protest temporarily blocked the Thousand Islands Bridge border crossing in Ivy Lea, Ontario.
• February 18 – CNR temporarily laid off 450 employees because of the pipeline disruptions.
• February 18 – Opposition leader Andrew Scheer criticized the government's response. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau then held a private meeting with other party leaders, but not Scheer.
• February 19 – A blockade was set up on the Mont-Saint-Hilaire rail line in Saint-Lambert, Quebec. Protesters said they would stay until the RCMP left Wetʼsuwetʼen territory.
• February 19 – Via Rail announced temporary layoffs for up to 1,000 people due to the blockades.
• February 20 – The RCMP offered to close their Community Industry Security Office (CISO) on the Morice Road.
• February 20 – Another blockade of CPR tracks appeared between Kamloops and Chase in British Columbia. Protesters left voluntarily after the RCMP offered to leave Wet’suwet’en land.
• February 20 – A Wet'suwet'en hereditary matriarch, Rita George, spoke against the protests. She said they were not supported by the matriarchs and were not following ancestral ways.
• February 21 – The Mont-Saint-Hilaire rail line was cleared by police.
• February 21 – Prime Minister Trudeau asked for the barricades to come down.
• February 21 – The British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) told Coastal GasLink to stop construction in one area. They needed to talk with the Wetʼsuwetʼen for the next 30 days.
• February 22 – The RCMP closed their CISO office and moved to Houston. This was a condition set by the hereditary chiefs for talks with the federal government.
• February 24 – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) removed the Tyendinaga Mohawk blockade and arrested several protesters.
• February 24 – After the police action, new protests started in Quebec. These included a temporary blockade of the Honoré Mercier Bridge near Montreal and a new rail blockade by the Listuguj Miꞌgmaq First Nation in the Gaspé Peninsula.
• February 24 – Rail blockades in New Brunswick were removed after court orders were served.
• February 24 – New protests formed in British Columbia. They blocked the BC Legislature, the Port of Vancouver, and rail lines in Hazelton and Kamloops.
• February 24 – Members of the Mohawk Nation from the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation blocked Ontario Highway 6 in Caledonia to support the Wetʼsuwetʼen.
• February 25 – Members of the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation set up a rail blockade west of Toronto in Hamilton. This caused train service cancellations.
• February 25 – A protest blocked commuter rail lines in Toronto, stopping GO train service for hours.
• February 25 – A poll by Ipsos showed that 63% of Canadians supported police action to end the blockades.
• February 27 – A meeting between Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary chiefs and the BC and federal governments was rescheduled.
• February 27 – TC Energy agreed to pause construction. The RCMP stopped patrolling the Morice Forest Service Road. This met the Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary chiefs' conditions for talks.
• February 27 – Canadian Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Development Minister Carolyn Bennett and B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser arrived in Smithers, British Columbia to begin talks.
• February 28 – Wetʼsuwetʼen matriarchs joined the meetings, asking for representation from all Wetʼsuwetʼen people.

March Events

• March 1 – After three days of talks, an agreement on land rights was reached. This was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). It would be presented to the Wetʼsuwetʼen Nation for approval.
• March 2 – RCMP patrols and CGL construction work started again.
• March 2 – A CNR rail bridge in Pointe-St-Charles, Quebec, was blocked for several hours by protesters, who then left peacefully.
• March 3 – Via Rail resumed service on its Toronto–Montreal and Toronto–Ottawa lines.
• March 3 – CNR recalled the 450 workers it had temporarily laid off.
• March 3 – A meeting was held among the Laksilyu (Small Frog Clan) to discuss the agreement. Attendees agreed to the proposal.
• March 4 – University students across Canada held protests to support the Wet’suwet’en.
• March 4 – The Canadian, Via Rail's Toronto-Vancouver train, resumed partial service. Via Rail also recalled most of its 1,000 employees.
• March 5 – The Mohawks of Kahnawake and the Listiguj First Nation removed their rail blockades in Quebec.
• March 5 – Five Indigenous youth from the protest at the B.C. Legislature were arrested, and the protest was ended.
• March 7 – Via Rail service had resumed on most routes. The disruptions affected over 1,070 trips and about 165,000 passengers.
• March 13 – Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux said the protests would have very little impact on the economy. He called the impact "a blip."
• March 17 – A planned Wetʼsuwetʼen all-clans meeting was postponed. This was due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and a death in the community.
• March 19 – The blockade on Highway 6 near Six Nations of the Grand River was removed. Protesters decided to move back to Douglas Creek estates, a site important in the Grand River land dispute.
• March 21 – The OPP West Region announced that Highway 6 was expected to reopen.
• March 21 – Pipeline opponents started a letter-writing campaign. They urged Coastal GasLink to stop construction, citing risks from transient workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

April Events

• April 30 – The hereditary chiefs released a joint statement with the provincial and federal governments. They said all five clans had agreed to approve the MOU after reviewing it.

May Events

• May 1 – The elected chiefs of five Wet’suwet’en band governments released their own statement. They asked for the MOU to be withdrawn, saying they were not properly consulted.
• May 7 – The MOU was released to the elected band councils.
• May 8 – The MOU was released to the wider Wet’suwet’en Nation.
• May 11 – The elected chiefs of four band governments again called for the MOU to be withdrawn. They also asked for Minister Bennett to resign.
• May 12 – The MOU was published on the Office of the Wet’suwet’en website.
• May 14 – The MOU was signed by the nine hereditary chiefs, Minister Bennett, and Minister Fraser. This happened in an online ceremony using Zoom due to COVID-19.

June Events

• June 5 – The BC Prosecution Service and Coastal GasLink said they would not pursue criminal or civil charges against 22 protesters arrested in February.

September Events

• September 21 – The suspensions of over 200 Facebook accounts were lifted. These accounts had shared information about a May 7 online support rally.

October Events

• October 1 – A hearing began at the B.C. Supreme Court. The Office of the Wet’suwet’en wanted the province's decision to extend Coastal GasLink's environmental certificate to be rejected. They mentioned the danger of work camps to Indigenous communities and the company's history of not following rules.
• October 2 – Lawyers for Coastal GasLink appeared briefly at the hearing. The court session ended before they could present all their points.
• October 16 – The Supreme Court hearing was scheduled to continue.

Images for kids

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  A solidarity rally at the Canadian consulate in San Francisco, California on February 7, 2020

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  Mohawk protesters at the Tyendinaga blockade on February 10

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  Demonstrators at a solidarity rally in Scotland with a banner painted with the words "We stand with the Wetʼsuwetʼen".

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  Banner created by participants of a Wet'suwet'en Solidarity event at Vari Hall, York University in Toronto, March 11, 2020