Hear ye! Hear ye! The great Leonardo DiCaprio has spoken..And so — in his mind only — a reverent hush shall fall over the land. .The jet-setting, skirt-chasing, Al Gore protege weighed in on the RCMP raid on Wet’suwent’en clan blockades set up to oppose construction of a multi-billion-dollar Coastal GasLink (CGL) natural gas pipeline in a remote area of northern B.C., located 1,000 kms northeast of Vancouver..Well, of course Mr. Titanic and climate activist poked his nose into Canadian affairs. Disputes like this are worth their weight in gold, cash magnets for mega-donations to the likes of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, billed as being dedicated to the long-term health and well-being of all Earth’s inhabitants. .Wow, eh? All Earth’s inhabitants. That’s a big job for a guy getting on in years who has been known to prance around wearing a man bun..The facts be damned for paid mouthpieces like DiCaprio and creepy little Greta who both weighed in with retweets of the RCMP raid near the Gidimt’en checkpoint. .What’s important is these self-righteous, hypocritical, condescending buffoons jump in to help those needy, helpless indigenous people, who neither want or need their help..“After setting up a blockade to protect their land, community, and sacred headwaters Wedzin Kwa from Coastal GasLink’s planned fracked gas pipeline, the Wet’suwet’en Nation has faced militarized raids from the RCMP,” wrote DiCaprio..“We must protect the rights of land defenders.” .Well, that’s rather open-ended, Leo. What does it mean? Is it a call to more agitators and protesters to gravitate to the area to stir things up even more?.If so, that doesn’t bode well for indigenous people who support pipelines. One chief told me indigenous leaders exercise caution when speaking their minds about their own affairs because they fear intimidating, venomous thugs parading as noble environmentalists will make good on threats and come after them and their families. .Who does DiCaprio think needs to be protected? The Wet’suwent’en band council and almost two dozen First Nations band councils along the pipeline route — all elected — support the project that will better their lives and signed a deal with GCL..Yet anti-energy fools pander to the minority who oppose it. What’s in it for these fringe hereditary chiefs? Have wealthy eco-groups promised them something?.The 670-km, $6.6-billion pipeline, owned by TC Energy, would feed natural gas from northeastern B.C. to a terminal in Kitimat, BC, for export to Asian markets..And about those “militarized” raids by the RCMP Emergency Response Team, the third in as many years..Barricades — including a crushed van and another vehicle set on fire — were erected by Wet’suwet’en and Haudenosaunee protesters. These supporters of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs claim CGL doesn’t have consent to cross their territory and oppose CGL’s plans to drill under the Wedzin Kwa river that provides drinking water and is a salmon spawning ground..More than 500 pipeline workers in two work camps were stranded behind these barricades set up on a forest service road, the only access to the camps. Supplies of food and water were running out and supply trucks weren’t allowed to pass. If a medical emergency arose, they were trapped..B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth condemned the blockades that “put at risk emergency access and the delivery of critical services” to CGL workers..“Unlawful actions … have put our people in danger,” CGL said in a statement..The protesters vowed to evict the pipeline workers. That sounds ominous and is a threat Mounties would be negligent to ignore. Good on them for acting!.Multiple people were arrested for breaching an injunction put in place in 2019 preventing illegal blockades being erected..And let the theatrics that led to 15 arrests begin….One 118-second video that went viral showed a protester on the ground held down by RCMP yelling “I can’t breathe.” Now where have we heard that before?.Some charming potty-mouthed lady was screeching in the background “get off him” before she, too was subdued on the ground..Of course, the video conveniently doesn’t show what transpired before buddy had to be tackled to the ground. That might portray him in a bad light..Naturally, the Mounties were chastised for not conducting peaceful arrests. One Western Standard reader logically asked: “How do you peacefully arrest people who resist?” .The RCMP called it a rescue effort..“It was no longer possible to delay our efforts to rescue the workers,” Assistant Commissioner Eric Stubbs said in the statement..Gidimit’en Clan member Molly Wickham lamented to CBC that the RCMP brought a canine team to the raid. No doubt bomb-sniffing dogs were on that team as a precaution. Pipeline protesters have been known to have a penchant for playing with explosives..Not everyone appreciates mouths for hire, like DiCaprio, chiming in to opine on something that is none of their business..“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” tweeted B.C. Liberal MLA Ellis Ross to DiCaprio..“Give me a call. I’ll tell you the other side of the story as an aboriginal leader who was on the front of this project from day one,” said Ross, who served as the official opposition critic for Environment and Climate Strategy and minister of Natural Gas Development..Don’t hold your breath Mr. Ross. Celebrity mouthpieces don’t like another side to a story interfering with the narratives they spew that make them feel good, gets them coveted attention, and puts cash in their personal and foundation accounts..Who cares about the indigenous people who support the project? Such utter disrespect. Such clueless, condescending disregard for these people they claim to want to help. .And so now we await celebrity anti-energy activist Jane Fonda, who also sticks her nose into Canadian energy affairs, to hobble out of her armchair to get herself some attention..Anyone that supports these protests supports poverty of First Nations people..Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
