When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped in front of cameras last week to declare that barricades on rail lines and other major transportation routes had to come down, the move had been decided almost two days before.
Work is expected to resume today, March 2, 2020, on a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia that has been at the centre of protests that have disrupted both rail and road traffic in many parts of the country.
B.C. Premier John Horgan raised his voice over jeers and fist-banging recently in question period after members of the Opposition Liberals criticized his government's handling of the clash between Wet'suwet'en hereditary clan chiefs and a pipeline company.
As cabinet ministers broker urgent meetings over rail blockades in support of hereditary chiefs in northern British Columbia, a series of negotiations over the Wet'suwet'en Nation's land rights have been quietly taking place for a year.
Opponents of a natural gas pipeline in northwestern British Columbia say they believe protests across the country are sparking a growing awareness of Indigenous rights that will lead to long-term change.
Efforts by hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en Nation to halt a pipeline project have prompted arrests and spurred a national movement that saw protesters light a ceremonial fire at the front steps of the legislature in Victoria and block railway traffic in Ontario.
Talks between the First Nation, Coastal GasLink and the B.C. government ended without resolution Tuesday night. The community fears violence may be imminent — especially as at least three of the same commanding officers who spearheaded last year’s RCMP sweep of the area appear to be leading the charge again.
The president of a company building a natural gas pipeline across northern British Columbia is renewing a request to meet with the hereditary clan chiefs of a First Nation who say the project has no authority without their consent.
A natural gas pipeline across northern British Columbia is vital to the region's economic future and it will be built despite the objections of some Indigenous leaders, Premier John Horgan said on Monday, January 13, 2020.