OTTAWA — What started as a protest against a pipeline in northern British Columbia has turned into a test of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ability to govern an increasingly divided nationWrapped up in the protest, which has blocked rail traffic in most of eastern Canada for more than two weeks, is a debate about how Trudeau should weigh Canada’s lucrative natural resources against his goal of fighting climate change and improving his government’s relationship with Indigenous people.
The dispute over construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline has touched a nerve throughout Canada and led to widespread protests that are about much more than the fate of a single pipeline. It is giving voice to those who believe the government is not delivering on its promises to take climate change seriously and transform its relationship with Indigenous peoples, who make up about 5 percent of Canada’s population.
Trudeau’s Liberals were first elected in 2015 after making big promises to achieve reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples. But progress has been shaky, and the Coastal GasLink dispute is now challenging the government’s commitment to what it calls a “nation-to-nation relationship” with Indigenous communities.
But for pipeline supporters, Coastal GasLink is a project nearly a decade in the making, owned by a company — Calgary-based TC Energy — that spent years earning the support of First Nations along the route. They argue that liquefied natural gas exports to Asia will help in the transition to a low-carbon economy and see the project as a bellwether of Canada’s ability to keep its energy industry afloat. Natural resources directly and indirectly accounted forof Canada’s nominal GDP and 1.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke Grand Chief Joseph Norton drew a line between the Oka Crisis of 30 years ago, a 78-day standoff between Mohawk protesters, police and the army, and the current protests. “Our people out here, they see that,” he said. “And they see themselves in that. They feel that pain and that anger. They sense it and they know it. Because we’ve seen it happen to ourselves.
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