Video still from Anakbayan Victoria social media post.
The Victoria News reports on a protest against the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline that took place in downtown Victoria, British Columbia on Saturday February 7.
The article highlights that the Lax’yip Firekeepers, a Gitxsan youth-led organization that led the demonstration, has stated in a media release: “The PRGT pipeline is a project deeply rooted in a legacy of colonial coercion, exploitation, and manipulation. From its inception, this project has aimed to divide our people, using undisclosed payments to those willing to accept them while threatening injunctions and violence against those who stand in defence of their land.”
And the article notes that Gitanyow Hereditary Chief Simogyet Gamlakyeltxw (Wil Marsden) says: “Our ancestors protected our Lax’yip for thousands of years, and it is now our duty to do the same for future generations. We have a responsibility to safeguard the health of our lands and waters. Salmon is the lifeblood of our people and the PRGT pipeline threatens our food security, our culture, and our survival in an already rapidly changing climate.”
Notably, an Instagram post from Anakbayan Victoria highlights: “On Feb 7, members of Anakbayan Victoria marched alongside Lax’yip Firekeepers @laxyipyouth, Friends of Gitxsan and Gitanyow @friendsofgitxsangitanyow, and 100+ others to amplify their calls to end the construction of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline and Ksi Lisims LNG Terminal in the northern part of British Columbia.”
They add: “The resistance against the building PRGT pipeline mirrors the ongoing militarization in Mindoro, Philippines. The indigenous Mangyan people of Mindoro are currently experiencing food blockades and aerial bombing from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, ever since Piece Land Corporation arrived to instate their commercial industry and real estate over the ancestral lands. Defend Mindoro has been an ongoing campaign organized by indigenous Filipinos to resist the violations the AFP has put onto the Mangyan people to protect the interests of foreign corporations.”
Progressive International has also explained: “The Defend Mindoro campaign unites indigenous peoples, youth, and rights advocates against militarization, land grabs, and corporate plunder threatening the island’s ancestral domains and livelihoods.”
Third deadliest country for land and environmental defenders
Between 2012 and 2024, the Philippines was the third deadliest country for land and environmental defenders, according to data from Global Witness. They note that 306 defenders were killed in the Philippines during this period, with 413 killed in Brazil and 509 killed in Colombia during these years.
Global Witness has further noted about the situation in the Philippines: “The military has been linked to the highest number of killings and detentions of land and environmental defenders in the last decade… A Global Witness investigation published in December 2024 found that the government’s push to expand critical minerals mining in the country is putting frontline communities, especially Indigenous Peoples, at risk of militarisation and violence.”
We continue to follow this.
Additional reading
Filipino human rights defenders and allies rally in Ottawa as thousands protest corruption in the Philippines (PBI-Canada article, November 30, 2025)
PBI-Canada continues to monitor the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission systemic investigation of the RCMP C-IRG (January 23, 2026).
Poster from Lax’yip Firekeepers Facebook page.
