A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Tuesday that members of the RCMP made “grossly offensive, racist, and dehumanizing” remarks about Indigenous women who were arrested in 2021 during a blockade of Coastal GasLink pipeline construction.
Justice Michael Tammen said the racist comments breached the Charter rights of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham) and Shaylynn Sampson, who were arrested with Corey Jocko, at the site on Wet’suwet’en territory near Houston, British Columbia. But he ruled that the state misconduct findings didn’t warrant a stay of proceedings against the women. The protesters will get a reduction in their sentences for criminal contempt as an “appropriate” remedy.
Tammen said the audio recordings captured police laughing and comparing the women protesters to “orcs” from The Lord of the Rings.
“The abuse of process application alleged RCMP used excessive force while arresting the accused in November 2021, and that the group was treated unfairly while in custody,” CBC writes. “It asked the judge to stay the criminal contempt of court charges or to reduce their sentences based on their treatment by police.”
During the hearing on the application, senior RCMP officers “apologized for the behaviour of the officers, but Tammen said in his decision that he did not feel like these apologies were sufficient remedies for the prejudice and harm the comments caused,” CBC adds.
In a ruling delivered in Smithers, B.C., on Tuesday, Tammen said criminal contempt carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, but those convicted typically receive short sentences.
The case will be back in court on April 3 to fix a date for sentencing.
Major segments of this report were first published by The Canadian Press on Feb. 18, 2025.
