As Wet鈥檚u鈥檞eten hereditary chiefs headed for Ontario to meet with their Mohawk supporters in a nation-wide railway blockade to stop the Coastal GasLink pipeline, federal and B.C. Indigenous relations ministers renewed their plea for a meeting with them Wednesday.
In the latest effort by Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser to get a meeting with the dissident hereditary chiefs, they wrote Wednesday to the Office of the Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n, where a minority of hereditary chiefs remain opposed to the pipeline that would supply natural gas to a new export facility at Kitimat.
Today I spoke with Chief Woos of Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n. Together with Min , we sent a letter to the Hereditary leadership reiterating our commitment to a joint meeting. We are open & available at the soonest opportunity.
鈥� Carolyn Bennett (@Carolyn_Bennett)
The letter refers to 鈥渞epeated public and personal commitments by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier John Horgan and our own letters of Feb. 16, 2020,鈥� offering 鈥渄edicated attention from both levels of government to work with you in charting a peaceful path forward. (See letter in full below.)
鈥淚n light of that, we both commit to be in Smithers as early as Thursday, Feb. 20 and will be able to meet with any of the hereditary chiefs to discuss these matters of great concern to the Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n Nation,鈥� Fraser and Bennett wrote. 鈥淲e understand that some of the hereditary chief may not be available, and we commit to coming back again when they are.鈥�
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As the letter was being sent, Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n hereditary chief Na鈥檓oks (John Ridsdale), repeated the demands of the dissidents that the conditions for the meeting were unchanged.
鈥淩emove RCMP from our territory, remove [Coastal GasLink] from our territory, and we鈥檒l have discussions,鈥� The Canadian Press reported that Na鈥檓oks said Wednesday.
The demands refer to a mobile RCMP detachment in the remote region of northwestern B.C. where police arrested 28 people when they enforced a court injunction granted to Coastal GasLink this month.
The project has federal and provincial approval, and benefit agreements with all 20 elected Indigenous councils along the pipeline route from the Dawson Creek area to Kitimat, including Witset and other Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n councils. The dissident group has gained support from across the country, with blockades at roads, ports and railways from Vancouver to Quebec.
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