LNG PIPELINE TALKS BEGIN

HEREDITARY CHIEFS, SENIOR MINISTERS MEET

Thursday’s “productive talks” expected to resume this morning —

The hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en sat down Thursday with senior government ministers to discuss a pipeline dispute that has caused protests across the country, shutting down freight and passenger rail services.

Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser began the long-sought talks in the late afternoon and wrapped after about three hours, with a plan to resume this morning.

“Productive talks and we’re continuing tomorrow,” said Fraser, adding the mood in the room was “very good, very respectful” but it’s not appropriate to discuss the details of what took place.

“We don’t want to jeopardize anything. We had a productive day today and we’re hoping for a very solid day tomorrow, too.”

Bennett said it was a “very good start.”

Freda Huson, a spokeswoman for the Unist’ot’en camp that has been set up near the pipeline work site, said the meeting Thursday only covered introductions and the mood was respectful. She said she will not attend toay because the meeting will only involve the head chiefs and government officials.

Hereditary Chief Na’moks left without making a statement.

Before the meeting began, both the RCMP and Coastal GasLink said they agreed to conditions requested by the chiefs to allow the discussions to progress.

The natural gas company agreed to a two-day pause in its activities in northwestern B.C., while the RCMP committed to ending patrols along a critical roadway while the negotiations unfold.

The chiefs praised the moves in a statement released before the talks got underway.

“We believe these conditions provide the space we need to be able to sit down at the table in good faith and a positive path forward,” the statement read.

“We are so close and have called on the provincial and federal governments to support this deescalation of activities so that this issue can be resolved.”

The chiefs said the meeting with Bennett and Fraser is a “first step,” noting both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan declined invitations to discuss the long-simmering issues that have gained fresh urgency in recent weeks.

The chiefs’ opposition to a natural gas pipeline cutting across their traditional territory, coupled with their efforts to limit police presence on their lands, have sparked shows of support across the country that have halted rail service for the past three weeks.

Bennett said she hoped the meetings would pave the way to end the dispute and protests.

“Obviously this is very important,” she said moments after arriving in Smithers. “We reaffirm our interest in talking to the Wet’suwet’en Nation and their issues of title and rights.”

Horgan said he has met with the hereditary leaders twice over the past year and a half and is prepared to sit down with them again, but there need to be conditions for constructive dialogue.

Fraser understands the community’s governance issues and Bennett represents the Crown in Canada, so the best way forward is for them to be at the table, he said.

“I think that this is a good step. I’ve been seeking peaceful dialogue for a couple of weeks and here we are,” he said. “I’m looking forward to harmony as a result of those discussions.”

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said the meeting was a victory for open dialogue and peaceful resolution, but it is only the beginning as there are underlying rights and title issues that will take time to resolve.

Wet’suwet’en community members are divided on the pipeline and about a dozen supporters of the project gathered outside the Office of the Wet’suwet’en while the meeting took place.

Bonnie George, a former Coastal GasLink employee who describes herself as a Wet’suwet’en matriarch, handed out a statement that she attributed to the Wet’suwet’en people.

“The public attention brought to our community is having a negative effect on our people and eroding our traditional ways,” George said, reading from the statement.

Hereditary chiefs are not decisionmakers on their own and are instead meant to reflect the consensus of their clan or house and reach decisions together inside a traditional setting called a Feast House, she said.

George said she wasn’t invited to the meeting but she went into the room with others and they made a statement, telling the gathering that the entire nation needs to be represented.