Solidarity protests for the Wet’suwet’en Nation have gone too far. It’s time to sit down at the negotiating table and figure it out. The problem is – nobody seems to be open to talk and there is no obvious solution. There is no way to make everyone happy.
Protesters are trying to #shutdowncanada, while angry people on the other side of the spectrum call for their arrest. Police are faced with a choice; either shut down protests with force or leave protesters alone – either way, people will be angry and say power was either misused or responsibilities were ignored.
People are calling on the prime minister to take action, but never seem to ask themselves what he can actually do. He can’t magically make Wet’suwet’en and Coastal Gaslink agree, and he can’t wave his hand and disband protesters. The only way to solve this is for the hereditary chiefs to come up with a solution with Coastal Gaslink. But they pushed back a meeting with Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennet because they were angry Trudeau said the rail blockades need to end.
The whole conflict is at a stand-still and the only people who are able to solve it are not making moves. Meanwhile, people are losing jobs and protesters continue flooding streets in solidarity with the eight hereditary chiefs opposing the pipeline.
The protesters don’t seem to care about the 20 band councils who signed off on the construction. Nor do they care about Wet’suwet’en people like Rita George, a hereditary subchief, who has spoken out against the protests, saying the lack of love and respect being shown is not the way of her ancestors. She told the Globe and Mail she feels sick seeing how the protests have divided her community.
The issue is hardly about a pipeline anymore; it has shown us how divided Canada is. Now, it is deepening divisions. Blocking railways is making more people angry than sympathetic of the cause. The seemingly obvious solution is to take the alternate route proposed by the hereditary chiefs, but it is not that simple. When Coastal Gaslink said their route was not feasible, people jumped on them, saying they are just a greedy company who refuse to compromise because it will cost more.
If you look at the reasons it is not feasible, it seems the hereditary chiefs are not all for the environment. The route would not only be 70-89 km longer, but it would also cross an additional eight rivers – this would increase environmental damage. It would also cross into four other First Nations, who have not been consulted. Wet’suwet’en’s elected leaders approved the pipeline route.
People love to get involved with issues like this one. Protesters think they are helping a big cause when they block a train or chant a chant for the hereditary chiefs, but they are feeding conflict rather than resolution. The RCMP have agreed to move away from the main Wet’euwet’en protest camp. Protesters got what they demanded. Now, let the people impacted find a solution and stop paying attention to people who just want to cause chaos and wave signs around.
