A British Columbia provincial court judge has ordered the Government of Canada-owned Trans Mountain Corp. to hand over security correspondence relating to the arrest of three Secwepemc land defenders in 2018.

The Secwepemc land defenders were arrested on December 10, 2018 when they protested a consultation on the pipeline being held by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC.

Defence lawyer Joe Killoran has suggested the altercation was a result of over-policing and a bias among the RCMP and three Trans Mountain security officers (two of whom were previously RCMP officers). Killoran suggested the documents may shed light on alleged racism and bias toward the land defenders.

In December 2019, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, called on Canada to stop construction on the pipeline until it had secured the free, prior and informed consent of the Secwepemc peoples.

Source: Judge rules Trans Mountain must release correspondence that may show bias in the arrest of Secwepemc land defenders – Peace Brigades International-Canada