Dear Canada,
I don't know what to say to you right now. It isn't even really the whole dust-up between the Federal Government, Alberta versus British Columbia over the Trans Mountain pipeline and the whole, made-up constitutional crises that everyone is claiming exists. National interests and the interests of American oil companies seem to go hand-in-hand but I digress. I won't lie, this is a huge part of my problem today. It isn't just your insistence that this pipeline to the coast is the important centerpiece of Canada's climate change goals for some reason that I have been unable to fathom but your insistence that this is the price of Canada's commitment to slowing down climate change and protecting the environment. Forget for a moment the dichotomy of that statement and just kind of let it wash over you a little bit and then think about what you are saying. Further risking the environment is the only way we will protect it? You've lost me on this one, Canada, and clearly I must not be smart enough to grasp the logic.
I am upset, Canada, about the fact that you have made this a constitutional showdown between Canada and British Columbia, completely disregarding that the pipeline is under the purview of both entities in the constitution. But let's forget that for a moment here and point out that YOU HAVE COMPLETELY MARGINALIZED THE INDIGENOUS VOICES OF DISSENT in this showdown and are pretending like our free, informed and prior consent are not necessary to your win in this showdown. There is plenty of constitutional and legal precedent existing for you to know that this is a wrongheaded move but it is one that has been completely in line with the Canadian modus operandi since the beginning.
British Columbia is not innocent on this count either. The decision to fight on the premise that the coast and the tourism industry needs protection is somewhat ingenious as BC ignores the rest of the environment and the INDIGENOUS PROTECTORS that have been fighting the good fight forever.
I can't help but think that this is an attempt to diminish Indigenous rights even further than they have already been diminished. Looking to the complicity of Band Chiefs and Councils as your permission is a strawman argument. In many cases, I suspect, all information was not shared with their Band members, and they are empowered by Parliament and the Indian Act, not the Indigenous peoples of their Nations.