Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave his backing Tuesday to Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett after elected Wet’suwet’en chiefs said she should resign after making a deal with hereditary chiefs they claim was drafted without their consent. .“I want to begin by thanking Minister Bennett for the extraordinary work that she has done over the past months and continues to do on a very difficult issue that … has gone on for decades now,” Trudeau said..“The challenges facing the Wet’suwet’en are significant in terms of how they engage and how they work with the federal government and we will always be there … as a partner, to listen, to work with them, and to continue moving forward on the path to reconciliation and partnership.”.On Monday, four elected Wet’suwet’en chiefs demanded B.C. and the feds reject a recent agreement reached with hereditary chiefs..They want negotiations restarted to include the elected leadership..The agreement lays out the steps to transfer jurisdiction of Wet’suwet’en territory to traditional governance, including land, water and revenue-sharing that would give the hereditary chiefs leverage over further resource development, the CBC reported..The release by the elected chiefs was signed by Chief Rosemarie Skin of Skin Tyee Nation, Chief Dan George of Ts’ilh Kaz Koh First Nation, Chief Maureen Luggi of Wet’suwet’en First Nation and Chief Patricia Prince of Nee Thai Buhn Indian Band..Luggi told CBC the elected chiefs want Bennett to resign — and not B.C.’s Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser — because Bennett has a special constitutional relationship with First Nations as the minister who represents the Crown..“In this instance, we are witnessing a failure of the Crown and we believe they are wanting to pursue negotiations and leaving a certain group of people out,” Luggi said to CBC..“When you look at Aboriginal rights and title, they are collective rights and all members and all of our interests must be respected at every stage.”.Luggi said the elected chiefs are considering legal action..The agreement with hereditary chiefs came on the heels of a dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which triggered protests and railway blockades that paralyzed parts of Canada’s economy over the winter..The pipeline has the support of all First Nations along the route, but hereditary chiefs of Wet’suwet’en Nation, through which 28% of the 670-km route passes, oppose it..A group of unelected hereditary chiefs had set up a camp near Smithers and had kicked out Coastal GasLink workers..The RCMP said they have found traps like felled trees and three stacks of tires along with flammables along the access road..On Jan. 7, 2019, RCMP arrested 14 protesters along the B.C. logging road. .International attention was drawn to the issue when a British newspaper reported RCMP were ready to shoot protesters when they broke up the camp. The RCMP denied the story..On Dec. 31, the B.C. Supreme Court granted CGL an injunction against members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation from blocking the pipeline route near Smithers, B.C..But the situation has been further complicated after a Jan. 3 edict by the Unist’ot’en, a smaller group within the First Nation, that they intend to terminate an agreement that had granted the company access to the land..The RCMP checkpoint had been set up at the 27-km mark of the forest service road “to mitigate safety concerns related to the hazardous items of fallen trees and tire piles with incendiary fluids along the roadway.”.The $6.6 billion pipeline, to be operated by TC Energy Corp, would transport gas from near Dawson Creek in northeast B.C. to Kitimat on the coast and supply Canada’s largest liquefied natural gas export terminal, called LNG Canada, which is under construction..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter: @Nobby7694
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave his backing Tuesday to Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett after elected Wet’suwet’en chiefs said she should resign after making a deal with hereditary chiefs they claim was drafted without their consent. .“I want to begin by thanking Minister Bennett for the extraordinary work that she has done over the past months and continues to do on a very difficult issue that … has gone on for decades now,” Trudeau said..“The challenges facing the Wet’suwet’en are significant in terms of how they engage and how they work with the federal government and we will always be there … as a partner, to listen, to work with them, and to continue moving forward on the path to reconciliation and partnership.”.On Monday, four elected Wet’suwet’en chiefs demanded B.C. and the feds reject a recent agreement reached with hereditary chiefs..They want negotiations restarted to include the elected leadership..The agreement lays out the steps to transfer jurisdiction of Wet’suwet’en territory to traditional governance, including land, water and revenue-sharing that would give the hereditary chiefs leverage over further resource development, the CBC reported..The release by the elected chiefs was signed by Chief Rosemarie Skin of Skin Tyee Nation, Chief Dan George of Ts’ilh Kaz Koh First Nation, Chief Maureen Luggi of Wet’suwet’en First Nation and Chief Patricia Prince of Nee Thai Buhn Indian Band..Luggi told CBC the elected chiefs want Bennett to resign — and not B.C.’s Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser — because Bennett has a special constitutional relationship with First Nations as the minister who represents the Crown..“In this instance, we are witnessing a failure of the Crown and we believe they are wanting to pursue negotiations and leaving a certain group of people out,” Luggi said to CBC..“When you look at Aboriginal rights and title, they are collective rights and all members and all of our interests must be respected at every stage.”.Luggi said the elected chiefs are considering legal action..The agreement with hereditary chiefs came on the heels of a dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which triggered protests and railway blockades that paralyzed parts of Canada’s economy over the winter..The pipeline has the support of all First Nations along the route, but hereditary chiefs of Wet’suwet’en Nation, through which 28% of the 670-km route passes, oppose it..A group of unelected hereditary chiefs had set up a camp near Smithers and had kicked out Coastal GasLink workers..The RCMP said they have found traps like felled trees and three stacks of tires along with flammables along the access road..On Jan. 7, 2019, RCMP arrested 14 protesters along the B.C. logging road. .International attention was drawn to the issue when a British newspaper reported RCMP were ready to shoot protesters when they broke up the camp. The RCMP denied the story..On Dec. 31, the B.C. Supreme Court granted CGL an injunction against members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation from blocking the pipeline route near Smithers, B.C..But the situation has been further complicated after a Jan. 3 edict by the Unist’ot’en, a smaller group within the First Nation, that they intend to terminate an agreement that had granted the company access to the land..The RCMP checkpoint had been set up at the 27-km mark of the forest service road “to mitigate safety concerns related to the hazardous items of fallen trees and tire piles with incendiary fluids along the roadway.”.The $6.6 billion pipeline, to be operated by TC Energy Corp, would transport gas from near Dawson Creek in northeast B.C. to Kitimat on the coast and supply Canada’s largest liquefied natural gas export terminal, called LNG Canada, which is under construction..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter: @Nobby7694
