Ottawa, December 27 (RHC)-- In Canada, indigenous communities are condemning the Canadian government after it was revealed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police prepared for the potential use of lethal force against indigenous land defenders resisting the construction of a natural gas pipeline on the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s ancestral land in British Columbia.

The Guardian first revealed the documents in which commanders of Canada’s national police force argued “lethal overwatch is required” — a term for deploying snipers.  The preparations came ahead of a police raid last January against a protest encampment where indigenous groups have been fighting the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

In response to the revelations, the grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs in Canada said: “This form of state violence is happening to indigenous peoples around the world.  It is disheartening to know that, even in Canada, this same type of planned violence is still being considered against First Nations.”