[rad-green] What will it take to resolve BC Pipeline dispute? by Mizanagheezhick (Senator Murray Sinclair)

https://sincmurr.com/2020/02/14/what-will-it-take-to-resolve-bc-pipeline-dispute/



Things that keep me awake          February 14, 2020

*What will it take to resolve BC Pipeline dispute?*

*by Senator Murray Sinclair <https://sincmurr.com/author/sincmurr/>*

The rule of law is an important consideration in this dispute. Has Canada
complied with its own legal requirements? That’s a question that has
largely been ignored in the issuance of injunctions in disputes such as
this. Canada’s obligation to resolve this jurisdictional dispute is clear
from the case law, but it has failed to do so, mainly because it has
declined to negotiate. Injunctions are supposed to be issued only to those
“with clean hands” and Canada would likely fail on that point.

The argument that Chiefs and Band Councils along the route, may have signed
Benefit Agreements can hardly be said to be proper consent, for I have seen
some of them. They do not ask for consent, so much as promise payment for
silence. But even if one argues the point, the failure to recognize the
traditional law of the Wetsu’wetun is a fatal flaw to that argument. Courts
have recognized that traditional Chiefs have an overall say over unceded
territory.

Let’s say the United States wanted to run a pipeline from Alaska to Texas
and got the BC Government to sign off, through promises of jobs and
financial payments. Could Canada not rightfully say: “You need our consent
too”? Such is the nature of the role of traditional chiefs.

How to resolve this is the issue. It seems clear that it will take more
than words and promises, for history fails Canada on that point. I am
reminded of a thought I once had when analyzing the treatment of treaties
by governments and in the courts. Indigenous people must feel the way that
Paul Simon expressed in his song “The Boxer”:

“I am just a poor boy though my story’s seldom told
I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises,..”

I have said in the past that, if ramped up, Indigenous resistance could
paralyze the economy of this country. That resistance will not respond well
to court injunctions or more “pockets full of mumbles”. Positive acts of
resolution will be needed. Police and military enforcement will only serve
to inflame matters.

Frankly, given Canada’s intransigence, and the rising sense of injustice
felt by Indigenous leadership throughout the country, I do not like where
this is heading.

Mizanagheezhick

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