Sentencing Decision

“No matter what they said, no matter what they did, they couldn’t touch us because we’re standing on what our ancestors fought and died for.” -Sleydo’

“Since the beginning I feel like we’ve always known that justice wouldn’t flow from these halls. Justice comes from being on our land, and occupying our territory, and living and breathing life into our cultures.” -Shaylynn Sampson

“I did this for the Haudenosaunee ancestors, for all the ancestors throughout Turtle Island, that have fought and bled and died for us to be here. That’s why I’m here.” -Corey Jocko

Land defenders of the Yintah, Sleydo’ Molly Wickham (Cas Yikh, Wet’suwet’en wing chief), Shaylynn Sampson (Gitxsan), and Corey Jocko (Mohawk/Haudenosaunee) were given a suspended sentence by the Supreme Court of BC Justice Michael Tammen on October 17th, 2025. 

The land defenders were given a suspended sentence for their conviction of criminal contempt (January 12, 2024) in relation to the breach of an injunction and their arrests on November 19, 2021. The decision comes after the now decades long battle of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs to maintain control and jurisdiction over their 22,000km2 traditional territories and prevent oil and gas pipelines from harming critical habitats, waterways, and Wet’suwet’en traditional ways of being.  

Justice Tammen sentenced Sleydo’ to 30 days, Corey Jocko to 25 days, and Shaylynn Sampson to 20 days imprisonment. He reduced their sentences by 3 days each due to breaches of their charter protected rights by the RCMP during their arrests; mainly for the failure of the RCMP to obtain a warrant for the breaches of the tiny house and cabin, a section 8 and 9 breach, as determined by the Abuse of Process claim decided by Justice Tammen on February 18, 2025. Tammen considered the section 7 breach, in the residual category, and their transportation and conditions of their imprisonment in November 2021 to increase the credit of their time served to 2:1. The section 7 breach was found for the “grossly offensive, racist, and dehumanizing” comments made by the RCMP regarding the red handprints Sleydo’ and Shaylynn wore covering their mouths to represent the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two Spirit people in the overall. The red hand prints draw attention to the rates that violence against Indigenous women increase when extractive industry builds ‘man camps’ in an area. Tammen described their transport as the “harshest possible conditions of confinement in a series of holding cells at RCMP detachments with hours of arduous transport in vans, irregular meals and no amenities of any sort”. For these reasons Tammen further reduced their sentences by 10 days for Sleydo’ and 8 days for Shaylynn and Corey. Tammen also considered their personal histories as laid out in their detailed Gladue reports, which out of respect for their privacy did not read out in court. Their net sentences are 17,12, and 9 days respectively.

Justice Tammen distinguished criminal contempt as being part of common law, not the criminal code and so did not feel constrained by the rules of sentencing as it would be under the criminal code. He noted that in order to preserve the respect for the courts it is appropriate to extend “judicial clemency, in part based on the need to foster reconciliation with indigenous peoples.” He suspended their imprisonment in its entirety for one year due to the unique nature of the case including the extensive history of colonization, the failure of the federal and provincial governments in reaching a rights and title agreement with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and the backdrop of the hereditary chiefs being the authority, as the plaintiffs in Delgamuukw courtcase, which proved they never lost rights and title to their lands. Land defenders will be expected to be in good behaviour during the 1 year suspended sentence and complete 150 hours of community service supporting an Indigenous youth empowerment project. 

The Wet’suwet’en are disappointed that the 8 year legal and land-based battle with Coastal GasLink to have their rights and title recognized resulted in both the pipeline being constructed through Wet’suwet’en yintah without the consent of the proper rights and title holders and the criminalization of their hereditary chiefs and land-defenders. So, it is a bittersweet moment to finally hear their rights and title being recognized as important factors in the dispute in Justice Tammen’s reasons for decision.  

Throughout the years, Crown prosecutors argued that Wet’suwet’en title and rights played little to no factor in the injunction proceedings. Justice Tammen disagreed with the Crown counsel and provided an extensive reason for decision which included the recognition of the Wet’suwet’en’s rights and title, proving in the Delgamuuk’w Gisdayway decision December 11, 1997, and the 2020 Memorandum of Understanding made between the federal, provincial, and Wet’suwet’en governing bodies that affirmed Wet’suwet’en rights and title and clearly recognizing the hereditary chiefs of the individual Wet’suwet’en houses as the rightful title holders.  Tammen further stated that following the 2020 signing of the MOU “and subsequent failure to meaningfully implement it on the part of both the federal and provincial governments as part of the backdrop to the offending behaviour”. Tammen noted that the Wet’suwet’en felt they were not properly consulted or involved in decision making in the Coastal GasLink project.

Justice Tammen’s decision was brought forward in front of an overflowing courthouse that included Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan hereditary chiefs, clan and house members, some of whom were present and gave testimony during the Delgamuuk’w decision. Many were emotional during Justice Tammen’s reading of his decision as he made a clear and stated effort to rebuild the trust of the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan peoples and “take tangible steps to restore respect for the justice system” and agreed with Defense Counsel Frances Mahon that, 

“this history must be taken into account in the sentence matrix. This is an integral component of why they have come before the court. Colonization created the problem the Wet’suwet’en nation faces to this day in its constant struggle to have the Canadian government affirm their title in a meaningful and lasting way, those are the constrained circumstances that inform the action of the three offenders. Their moral blameworthiness must be assessed in this context.”

We are grateful that our land defenders did not go back to prison. Tammen’s decision demonstrated how much he had learned over the past few years about ‘Anuk Niwhit’en (Wet’suwet’en law) and the history of colonization. He stated that it was his duty to “advance the goal of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples even infinitesimally” given his knowledge of our history and the over representation of Indigenous people in the prison system. As part of an effort to reduce the number of Indigenous people incarcerated, the implementation of Gladue reports started in 1996. The reports include the history of an Indigenous person related to colonization and how it has impacted the person’s life. Since 1996 the rate of Indigenous people has actually increased. The process of going through one's entire life of trauma related to colonization is horrific and can be re-traumatizing to the person. The Crown brought in Monique Dull, from Indigenous Legal Relations at the Ministry of the Attorney General, to argue against considering the reports of Sleydo’, Corey and Shaylynn on the basis that they are living successful lives and so implying that the effects of colonization did not affect them. Despite her arguments, Tammen stated he was “mindful of the fact that the dark shadow of the legacy of colonization looms large in the broader backdrop to this case. The territory on which these offenses occurred is part of the unceded Wet’suwet’en lands, or yintah, over which the Wet’suwet’en sought a declaration of aboriginal title in the case of Delgamuukw and Gisday’wa in British Columbia.” The strong and historical testimonies over the past few years have educated not only Justice Tammen but all those paying attention and listening to the proceedings. With great effort, patience and personal sacrifice, Sleydo', Corey and Shaylynn stood strong in their truth for the world to hear.

Throughout the nearly two years of trials we heard many testimonies, from Crown witnesses, of how the Critical Response Unit (CRU-BC), formerly the Community Industry Response Group (CIRG) a specially formed arm of the RCMP to deal with opposition to extractive industry, were instructed to not take any notes during arrests, debates over how much force to use, the reason for using less force than they wanted was “for optical reasons”, and the widespread racism among RCMP members, as well as the lack of foresight in their planning in transport and detention. Our Dinï ze’, Tsakö ze’ and community members, including house group members, family and supporters listened to audio recordings and testimony of these actions further traumatizing listeners in the courtroom and online. The testimonies of Sleydo’, Corey and Shaylynn further demonstrated how being criminalized, dehumanized, and further harassed after their arrests affected them personally in their daily lives. The treatment they experienced during their arrests, detention and while on the stand will require healing while also demonstrating the resilience the Crown specialist tried to use against them. As all Indigenous people know the legacy of colonization is intergenerational and these three have proven strength and care for the generations yet to come. 

In upholding ‘anuk niwh it’en we hold close our allies and the relationships we have maintained for generations and present day alliances formed over years. We are forever grateful for all the different nations that have stood with us over the years and hold especially close our Gitxsan and Haudenosaunee relatives. By standing strong beside Sleydo’, Shaylynn and Corey have elevated and strengthened these bonds showing that we are never alone. This decision was precedent setting. Tammen stated at the beginning of these proceedings that there has never been a case with these specific factors set before the court. We know we did everything we needed to and that this is an intergenerational battle. We know this system was not made for us. And yet this is one less fight our grandchildren will have to endure. 

*Since the decision we have taken some time to process the extent of the decision and continue to do so while starting the process of healing from all that has happened over the years. Misiyh for your patience in this reflection and know it is not a complete summary*