Indigenous bids for Trans Mountain offer ‘reconciliation through economic development’ – by John Ivison (National Post – June 6, 2019)

https://nationalpost.com/

There is plenty of evidence to contradict the stereotype that all Indigenous Canadians are trapped in misery. Take the pipeline expansion, for one

In his book Enlightenment Now, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker argues that the prevailing culture of pessimism has made the very notion of progress unfashionable.

The release this week of the final report of the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls lends to the impression that we have never had it so bleak when it comes to Canada’s relationship to its First Peoples.

Yet there is plenty of evidence to contradict the stereotype that all Indigenous Canadians are trapped in a cycle of misery. Take the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

The Liberal government will decide next week whether to approve the project, having been forced to re-examine the environmental review and Indigenous consultation process by the Federal Court of Appeal. The government will make its decision at a cabinet meeting on June 18, after receiving the findings of an extended consultation exercise.

If the project gets the green light, it looks increasingly likely that the government will invite bids from the private sector to buy the pipeline.

For the rest of this column: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/john-ivison-indigenous-bids-for-trans-mountain-offer-reconciliation-through-economic-development