The Trudeau government has been accused of sowing new divisions within the Wet’suwet’en community by elected leaders of the First Nation and one hereditary chief, according to the National Post.
The leaders who have spoken out against the agreement have said that some Indigenous leaders are viewing the agreement as an opportunity to grab more power.
The deal between Ottawa and the Wet’suwet’en leaders is reportedly granting over-reaching power to the hereditary chiefs who are unelected and thus unaccountable to the First Nation.
Earlier this year, Canada was paralyzed by a string of protests made in solidarity with the hereditary chiefs who opposed the construction of a pipeline. These protests—under the banner of #ShutdownCanada—affected ports, highways, and rail lines between the country's biggest cities.
A Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief said that they pleaded with the minister of Crown-Indigenous to delay the agreement, saying the First Nation needed greater time to determine how much power they wanted to give to the unelected hereditary branch of their government.
Going further still, a group of four elected band chiefs said that the Trudeau government had completely ignored important voices within the community.
Speaking to the National Post, one hereditary chief said that "they created a problem, because they refused to engage with the people as a nation, and ask them that vital question: ‘what kind of governance system do you want?'"
"The boys wanted to have the authority to make decisions for the entire nation without a proper governance structure in place ... they want to be the ultimate decision makers," they added.
Join and support independent free thinkers!
We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.
Remind me next month
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy
