A protest against TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline in Toronto, Feb. 17.
Photo: chris helgren/ReutersToronto
Canadians’ reputation for politeness is being tested by an ugly dispute over energy policy. It involves the Coastal GasLink pipeline, owned by TC Energy, which will be used to transport natural gas from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, near the Alberta border, to the coastal town of Kitimat.
Coastal GasLink was organized in 2012 by the province’s Liberal government, and it’s supported by the current New Democratic Party government. Most First Nations tribes along the pipeline path, including the elected band council of the Wet’suwet’en, support the project. But five hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs oppose it, and many left-wing activists predictably side with them. For the past few years the activists have organized blockades that aim to shut down construction. The British Columbia Supreme Court has issued two injunctions against the blockades.
In late January, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police entered the blocked area to clear it for good. The occupiers fought back by mobilizing larger disruptions across Canada. They’ve blocked provincial ministers from entering their legislative buildings. They’ve kept Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland from attending a meeting at City Hall in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They’ve blocked port and ferry entrances in Vancouver and Victoria. Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte blocked rail lines in Belleville, Ontario. The Canadian National Railway shut down all routes east of Toronto, causing 450 railroad layoffs.
In Ottawa, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has answered with weakness. Indigenous Minister Marc Miller met with the Mohawks Saturday but reported only “modest success.” He was unaccompanied by First Nations supporters of the project.
As for Mr. Trudeau, he’s refused to intervene, claiming he can’t tell the RCMP what to do. That’s not completely true. It would violate custom for the prime minister to order police to break up the disruptions, but he could meet privately and urge them to do something.
Not that Mr. Trudeau has gone easy on the opposition. On Tuesday he held a meeting to discuss the blockade with all Canada’s political leaders, save one: Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, who has spoken against Mr. Trudeau’s nonstrategy in Parliament. “Standing between our country and prosperity is a small group of radical activists, many of whom have little to no connection to First Nations communities,” Mr. Scheer said. The radicals, he added, “won’t rest until our oil and gas industry is entirely shut down.” Mr. Trudeau complained that “Mr. Scheer disqualified himself from constructive discussions with his unacceptable speech earlier today.”
The right to protest in a democratic country is important, but preventing people from moving and from doing their work is an affront to the rule of law. Mr. Trudeau and his government should stand up to the bullies trying to shut Canada down to make a point.
Mr. Taube, a Troy Media syndicated columnist and political commentator, was a speechwriter for former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
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