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Danielle Smith: Anti-pipeline movement is vacuous, but still winning the PR war

Tribes representing tens of thousands of indigenous people on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border are signing a declaration against the planned Keystone XL pipeline.
Tribes representing tens of thousands of indigenous people on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border are signing a declaration against the planned Keystone XL pipeline. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Those who listen to my show know that I am always willing to interview people I don’t agree with. I like to give people the chance to make their best argument and let listeners tell me whether they agree.

That was the same attitude I brought to my interview with Brandon Sazue, chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux in South Dakota, who is one of the leaders of an event held Wednesday in Calgary to declare a cross-border effort with the Blackfoot Confederacy to block the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

READ MORE: First Nations sign anti-pipeline declaration in Calgary Wednesday

I was expecting a reasoned argument about how their demands can be met. But, it became clear pretty quickly that there is no middle ground with this outfit.

Sazue said he wants to eliminate fossil fuel use, go back to being a hunter-gatherer society, and added greedy oil companies should just stay off treaty land.

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When I challenged him about how he justifies burning fossil fuels to drive his gasoline-powered car to get up to Calgary for the signing, he said:

How indeed.

Hear my full interview with Brandon Sazue and a response from Canada Action’s Cody Battershill below:

Danielle Smith hosts The Danielle Smith Show on NewsTalk 770 in Calgary.

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