The Globe and Mail - 11.03.2020

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Mr. Trudeau, will you

have the courage to

act? To act now?

IT’S TIME FOR EMPLOYMENT INSURANCETO CHANGE

We must:

• Protect our

communities and

seasonal workers

• Ensure the dignity of

those on sick leave

• Expand coverage

A6 | NEWS O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| WEDNESDAY,MARCH11,

A Wet’suwet’en Nation matriarch
who supports Coastal GasLink’s
B.C. pipeline project says the In-
digenous group’s hereditary gov-
ernance system needs to incorpo-
rate the views of elected band
councils.
“We are ready for a system of
governance that is inclusive,”
Theresa Tait Day said on Tuesday
during a webcast from a House of
Commons committee in Ottawa.
Coastal GasLink has signed
project agreements with 20 elect-
ed First Nation councils, includ-
ing five elected Wet’suwet’en
band councils, along the pipeline
route. But a group of Wet’suwe-
t’en hereditary chiefs opposes the
$6.6-billion pipeline project, say-
ing they have jurisdiction over
their unceded traditional territo-
ry, not elected band councils on

federal reserves under the Indian

Act.

On March 1, hereditary leaders

announced a tentative agree-

ment with the federal and B.C.

governments to expedite nego-

tiations to implement rights and

title for the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

A resolution to the pipeline dis-

pute, however, was not reached.

“Canada and British Columbia

legitimize a group of bullies,” Ms.

Tait Day said. “The Indian Act sys-

tem must be reformed, but that

does not invalidate the role of the

elected councils. While imperfect,

they continue to speak for the

people until a better model is im-

plemented.”

She said the Wet’suwet’en Na-

tion’s hereditarygovernance sys-

tem needs to accommodate a

joint decision-making model,

and she outlined how the process

should work in practice.

“Hereditary chiefs in our com-

munities do not rule alone. They

make decisions collectively,” she

said. “An effort is made to work

toward consensus. At the end of

the process, community and

band-elected chiefs inform the

hereditary chiefs of their commu-

nity’s message.”

The Wet’suwet’en Nation com-

prises five hereditary clans, under

which there are 13 house groups,

each with a head chief position

(four are currently vacant). On

Sunday, Herb Naziel became the

first house chief to support the

pipeline project, breaking ranks

with eight men from other house

groups who oppose it.

“Hereditary chiefs are repre-

sentative decision-makers. They

are not autocrats,” Ms. Tait Day

said. “The bands and the commu-

nity have been left out.”

Since Feb. 6, protests have

spread across Canada in solidar-

ity with the group of eight Wet’su-

wet’en hereditary house chiefs

fighting Coastal GasLink’s plan.

“These chiefs’ voices have been

amplified by the skills and re-

sources of outside environmental

activists, who say they support

Wet’suwet’en but whose primary

interest is to stop the pipeline,”

Ms. Tait Day said.

Ms. Tait Day, Gloria George and

Darlene Glaim back the pipeline

project and helped form the Wet-

’suwet’en Matrilineal Coalition in

2015, with a goal of persuading

hereditary leaders to endorse

Coastal GasLink. The coalition re-

ceived seed money from Coastal

GasLink and the then-BC Liberal

government.

Over the past four years, the

three Wet’suwet’en women have

been stripped of their hereditary

titles, although they continue to

personally use them.

Ms. Tait Day met on Tuesday

night with Crown-Indigenous Re-

lations Minister Carolyn Bennett.

“This is a nation-building exer-

cise,” Ms. Tait Day said in an in-

terview after the meeting. “I think

there is a path forward for joint

decision-making, developed by

the Wet’suwet’en people.”

Ms. Tait Day said she disagrees

with hereditary chiefs who un-

fairly removed her subchief

name, Wi’haliy’te, under House

Beside the Fire. Frank Alec re-

placed Ms. Glaim last year as

Woos, head chief of Grizzly

House, while Warner Naziel re-

placed Ms. George in 2016 as Smo-

gelgem, head chief of Sun House.

About 190 kilometres of the

670-kilometre pipeline route

cross the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s

traditional territory.

During the Commons commit-

tee on Tuesday, Ms. Bennett was

asked by Conservative critic Ja-

mie Schmale whether she met

with elected chiefs during recent

discussions in Smithers, B.C.

Ms. Bennett said she did not

meet with the elected chiefs, add-

ing that some matriarchs did at-

tend meetings. She said the pro-

posed agreement on rights and ti-

tle is being taken back to the clans

and houses for review.

Ms. Bennett said she is also

“more than happy” to meet with

the elected First Nation chiefs at

any time.

She said that protests have

been in support of the hereditary

leaders who oppose the pipeline,

and the recent talks focused on

resolving complex matters of In-

digenousgovernance.

“It was indeed the hereditary

chiefs that had mounted the sup-

port coast-to-coast-to-coast, and

therefore the resolution was go-

ing to come with the hereditary

chiefs at the beginning, and then

we will meet with the elected

chiefs,” she said.

Ms. Bennett said Coastal Gas-

Link is a B.C. project that involves

provincial regulatory processes

and permits.

“My job is to make sure that

the [Wet’suwet’en] Nation comes

together and heals as a whole,

and that concerns of the hered-

itary chiefs needed to be heard,”

she said.

Wet’suwet’enmatriarchcallsfor‘inclusive’governance

Hereditaryleadership

mustincludeviewsof

electedbandcouncils,

TheresaTaitDaytells

Commonscommittee

BRENTJANGVANCOUVER
KRISTYKIRKUPOTTAWA

F

or decades, residents of re-
mote Lower Post, B.C., have
had to brave a building that
once housed a residential school
in order to access basic services.
The community is forced into
using the space, including for its
band office, despite its traumatic
history because it is “all we have,”
said Harlan Schilling, a councillor
for the local Daylu Dena Council.
In an interview with The Globe
and Mail, Mr. Schilling said his
mother, who attended the former
residential school, refuses to step
foot into the building where he
goes to work every day.
She is far from alone.
“That’s how much of a dark
place this is,” Mr. Schilling said.
Social problems that exist
within the community can be
traced back to what happened at
the former school, he added.
Now a local MP, who was elect-
ed last year, is supporting the
community’s calls to remove the
site and build something new.
NDP MP Taylor Bachrach said
in an interview he recently visited
Lower Post, located about five
hours by vehicle from White-
horse, where he heard first-hand
of abuse and neglect experienced
by former residential school stu-
dents.
The community has been
pushing for the building to be re-
moved since the 1970s.
Mr. Bachrach said it is clear
tearing down the former Lower

Post Indian Residential School

should have happened long ago

to help with community healing.

He added it was emotional to

even step into the building.

“It is one thing to read about

the history of residential schools

in Canada,” Mr. Bachrach said.

“It is another thing to stand in

the physical space and reflect on

what it means for a tiny commu-

nityinaveryremotepartofour

country to be living every day

with a reminder of that tragic his-

tory. When we talk about recon-

ciliation, there needs to be ac-

tion.”

Mr. Bachrach recently wrote to

Indigenous Services Minister

Marc Miller to call for the building

to be replaced as soon as possible.

“It is unthinkable that in 2020,

there’s a community that is

forced to use a former residential

school in that way,” he said.

The Daylu Dena Council has

proposed a vision of a new build-

ing for community gatherings,

Mr. Bachrach said, noting the

building itself should be con-

demned.

“It is full of asbestos,” he said.

“There are major issue when it

comes to the health and safety as-

pect of the building.”

In a statement, a spokeswo-

man for Mr. Miller said the federal

government is aware of concerns

that the Daylu Dena Council has

with its current administration

building, including its condition.

The government supports

their decision to replace the cur-

rent building, said press secretary

Vanessa Adams, adding meetings

have taken place to discuss the

needs of the community and so-

lutions.

“We will continue to work with

them to develop proposals and

work toward completing com-

munity planning,” she said.

A spokesperson for Mr. Miller’s

department added it is providing

funding for the completion of a

comprehensive community plan

and it previously provided

$285,000 toward the design a new

administration building.

The Liberal government

should ensure buildings like the

one in Lower Post are taken down

as soon as possible as it looks to

act on reconciliation with Indige-

nous Peoples, Mr. Schilling said.

“It would be a starting point for

their path of healing,” he said.

“So that dark, grey cloud that

has been hanging over our heads

for years, maybe there is light at

the end of the day.”

B.C.communityforcedtouseex-residentialschoolforlocalservicesseeksalternative

KRISTYKIRKUPOTTAWA

Despiteitstraumatichistory,theformerLowerPostIndianResidentialSchoolisstillbeingusedasa

bandoffice.Communitymembershavepushedforitsremovalsincethe1970s.