Legislature protest was unacceptable, says premier Horgan
Credit to Author: Rob Shaw| Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 02:06:39 +0000
VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan says anti-pipeline protests that blockaded the legislature and threaten to shut down other B.C. government buildings later this week are unacceptable and are doing little to sway his government or public opinion.
“I respect people’s right to speak to power and to assemble peacefully at the legislature,” Horgan said Wednesday. “But yesterday was not like other days. Yesterday was a day when people were denied access to their workplace not because of their political views but because they were seen as symbols of government. That was unacceptable.
“Peaceful demonstration is fundamental to our success as a democracy. But to have a group of people say to others you are illegitimate, you are not allowed in here, you are somehow a sellout to the values of Canadians, is just plain wrong.”
The premier’s denunciation comes a day after hundreds of people gathered at the legislature to support a group of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs fighting the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northeastern B.C. near Houston, which crosses the chiefs’ traditional lands.
Premier John Horgan speaks during a press conference at B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.
Protesters blockaded entry to the building, physically preventing several MLAs and staff from entering, and caused the cancellation of the morning session. The Victoria police department said it is investigating four cases of reported assaults.
The pipeline, which will feed the $40-billion LNG Canada terminal in Kitimat, is strongly supported by Horgan. But the aggressive and disruptive nature of the protest means any success organizers might claim in raising the profile of their cause is counterproductive, said Horgan.
“If that’s winning, I don’t want any part of it,” he said. “If those people feel that was a victory then I’m not sure what they were arguing for. I heard ‘Shut down Canada’ through my window a few times. That’s not supported by me and that’s not supported by Canadians.”
Demonstrators have also been periodically blocking traffic in Vancouver, including shutting down the Granville Street Bridge in Vancouver and protesting outside Coastal GasLink offices in Vancouver on Wednesday. There have been other actions across the country that have blocked bridges and roads, and critically major CN freight lines in Ontario and east of Prince Rupert. In Ottawa, a group supporting Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs stopped traffic in a downtown city intersection Wednesday evening.
The B.C. government is bracing for a new round of disruption set for Friday. A Facebook page called “B.C. Government Shutdown” with hundreds of interested volunteers outlines a plan to target as many as 30 government and ministry buildings.
Horgan said government is “absolutely prepared” with plans to protect government workers and services in the case of protests.
The B.C. government shutdown protest also appears to be in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs.
While some hereditary chiefs say they have not consented to the project, Horgan highlighted the more than 20 elected First Nations band councils that have signed agreements to support the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
“There’s 204 Indian Act nations in British Columbia. The vast majority of those nations, whether they are assembled under the Indian Act or under their own traditional ways, are anxious to have the prosperity that other British Columbians have experienced over the last 150 years,” said Horgan.’
“That overwhelming majority is my focus. I absolutely understand the discontent and disappointment of some, but I can’t let that get in the way of moving forward on what I believe is in the best interests of British Columbia and the long term.”
Protesters in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs block the entrance to the east wing entrance of legislature before the speech from the throne in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, February 11, 2020.
Horgan said his government remains committed to reconciliation and implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that B.C. passed into law in December. But that is a long-term process, he said. And it is up to First Nations communities to solve difference of opinion between elected and hereditary representatives, not the government, said Horgan.
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said Horgan is picking and choosing what articles of UNDRIP to uphold, and peddling confusion on the authority of the hereditary leadership to misinform the public.
Inside the legislature Wednesday, politicians debate both the protest and the NDP government’s handling of consent involving Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs.
Opposition Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson said protesters have been encouraged by the NDP, as well as by a visit by Forests Minister Doug Donaldson to a Wet’suwet’en blockade last year before it was dismantled by RCMP.
“It’s no secret that the NDP have encouraged and supported protesters in illegal blockades in the past,” he said.
Wilkinson also pointed to comments from Donaldson that the rightful titleholders within the Wet’suwet’en are the hereditary chiefs. Horgan rejected the idea his government has flip-flopped on the issue.
“I don’t think we changed our view, I think what we’re doing now is trying to grapple as a government with what those different points of view means to the people in that territory and the people of B.C.,” said Horgan.
The issue of conflicting First Nations governance is not one created by the NDP, but has existed for a long time, he said.
“There is a complex governance structure in place here, and you know that, but I didn’t create that. I didn’t create that complex government structure. It existed when we arrived. It existed if we had not arrived. And to suggest that somehow the language we used two, three or four years ago somehow made this situation more explosive is just not fair and it’s not true.”
Interim Green leader Adam Olsen, a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, said the protests represent the long-standing failure of governments to reconcile Aboriginal rights and title.
That has been exacerbated by Horgan’s endorsement of the $40-billion LNG Canada terminal in Kitimat which needs the Coastal GasLink pipeline for its supply of natural gas, he said.
“The issues that the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have raised are not new,” said Olsen.
“Government has been well aware of the existing, long-standing and unresolved matters relating to rights and title in the area. Yet, in spite of this, the NDP prioritized the financial regime, putting in place to get LNG Canada knowing full well that there was work to be done in the Wet’suwet’en territory.”
Olsen visited the Wet’suwet’en blockade last month and said he supports the efforts of the hereditary chiefs.
Liberal MLA Ellis Ross, the former chief councillor of the Haisla Nation, questioned why Olsen did not visit other band councils as well, and whether critics of the pipeline have the larger best interest of First Nations members in mind.
“Did you think about all the issues First Nations are facing — the suicide, the unemployment?” he asked in the house. “Did anybody talk about that?
“I hear these words — accountability, honest genuine dialogue. Nobody has any business going into these First Nations communities and furthering the divide in any of the communities. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You’re talking about one of the most vulnerable people in Canada.
“These are real issues, and for the first time in our history, we have the opportunity to fix these issues. But no. What do we see? We see one per cent of a minority being addressed in this house. Nobody thought about the 99 per cent of the people that are being put into jobs, education, training and fixing their own lives.”
Aboriginal Relations Minister Scott Fraser said he continues to hope that government discussions with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs could resolve the situation. But he acknowledged no talks are scheduled.