All eyes on Wet’suwet’en chiefs’ meeting in B.C. with federal, provincial ministers
Credit to Author: The Canadian Press| Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2020 19:13:09 +0000
Federal and provincial ministers made their way to northwestern British Columbia on Thursday for key meetings they’re hoping will pave the way for a peaceful resolution to a long-standing dispute that’s touched off a wave of disruptions across the country.
Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and B.C. Indigenous Affairs Minister Scott Fraser were en route to the town of Smithers to sit down with hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation.
The chiefs’ vocal opposition to a natural gas pipeline project cutting across their traditional territory, coupled with their efforts to limit police presence on their lands, have sparked shows of support in multiple provinces that have shut down freight and passenger rail service for the past three weeks.
“We’re looking forward to the meeting,” Bennett said moments after arriving in the town of Smithers. “Obviously this is very important. We reaffirm our interest in talking to the Wet’suwet’en Nation and their issues of title and rights.”
Fraser largely echoed Bennett in a statement issued shortly before his departure for the meeting.
“We are pleased to have been able to arrange for further talks with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs,” the statement read. “We are coming to the table with a commitment to respectful dialogue and are focused on finding a peaceful path forward.”
The dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline project has been raging for months, but entered a new phase on Dec. 31, 2019 when the B.C. Supreme Court granted the company an injunction calling for the removal of any obstructions from any roads, bridges or work sites it’s been authorized to use in Wet’suwet’en territory.
The RCMP moved in to enforce that injunction on Feb. 6. Hours later, outside of Belleville, Ont., east of Toronto, protesters started holding up railway traffic in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, thwarting freight and passenger rail travel in large swaths of the country.
In Ottawa, one Conservative MP questioned whether the blockades constitute acts of terrorism.
Doug Shipley put the question to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair on Thursday morning during testimony at the House of Commons public safety and national security committee.
The rookie MP said he was asking on behalf of a constituent who sent him an email after a handful of protesters near Belleville lit fires near and on railway tracks the day before — actions that were denounced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“This resident wanted to know if the current illegal blockades that are happening across Canada are being deemed as a terrorist activity?” Shipley asked.
Blair said they were not, adding the government should not interfere with the police’s ability to identify and investigate criminal activity in their jurisdiction.
“It’s very appropriate that I be careful in doing that because I do not want to interfere with the operational independence of both the police and our prosecutors,” he said. “But at the same time that was terribly unsafe, deeply concerning.”
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki testified at the same committee hearing, saying the Mounties have discretion on how to enforce an injunction.
“Of course, enforcement is the last option,” she said. “It’s about dialogue and trying to find a peaceful resolution to the blockades.”
The Ontario Provincial Police took down a major blockade near Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory earlier this week. But about 20 demonstrators gathered near train tracks in Kingston, Ont., farther east along the same line on Thursday morning.
Local police said the group gathered on the Canadian National Railway Co. train overpass, but train traffic had not been affected and officers were monitoring the situation.
–With files from Michelle McQuigge and Liam Casey in Toronto, Mike Blanchfield in Ottawa, and Beth Leighton in Vancouver.