KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted the benefits of a liquefied natural gas project that’s at the centre of an impasse with First Nations in a speech to supporters Wednesday in Kamloops, B.C.
RCMP arrested 14 people Monday in northwestern British Columbia over a protest against construction of a natural gas pipeline by Coastal GasLink, a key part of the $40-billion LNG Canada project.
In a campaign-style speech at the Liberal fundraiser, Trudeau did not address the arrests but heralded the massive project as one of his government’s key achievements over the past year.
He says the project is going to produce Canadian LNG that will supplant coal in Asia as a power source and help the environment.
The RCMP enforced an injunction Monday from the B.C. Supreme Court that ordered the removal of any obstructions to a Coastal GasLink project in and around the Morice River Bridge on a remote forest service road southwest of Houston.
The pipeline company says it has signed agreements with all First Nations along the route but demonstrators say Wet’suwet’en house chiefs, who are hereditary rather than elected, have not given their consent.
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Dozens of protesters on both sides of the pipeline debate gathered Wednesday outside the hotel where Trudeau was set to speak at the Liberal fundraiser.
Protesters wearing yellow vests carried signs that read “Carbon Tax Cash Grab” and “Trudeau for Treason” while taking part in a chant opposing a United Nations pact on migration signed by Canada.
Conservative critics argue it threatens Canada’s sovereignty.
Keith LaRiviere, who is Cree and participated in the yellow-vest protest, said he knows some of the people involved in the pipeline blockade.
He said he supports their right to protest but he believes those building the pipeline have the right to do their work.
“I go to sweat lodges with some of those people so I really know them intimately, and I do support their cause. I do support their right to their land. I don’t support the aggressive way they were forced out of their position,” said LaRiviere, who travelled from Prince George.
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On the other side of the hotel parking lot, a group of Indigenous protesters opposed to the pipeline sang, drummed and held a banner reading “PM Trudeau: Canada needs climate action now.”
Janice Billy said she supports the Wet’suwet’en because her First Nation, the Secwepemc, are also losing control of their lands.
“The people … had no reason to be arrested. They are peaceful people. They were there protecting the land and water,” she said.
The federal riding of Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo is held by Conservative MP Cathy McLeod and the Liberals see B.C. as a key battleground for the election in October.
— With files from Global News
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