OPINION: The Wet’suwet’en deal could be a recipe for disaster – by Gary Mason (Globe and Mail – May 27, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

When we last left the great pipeline dispute involving the Wet’suwet’en Nation, governments in Ottawa and B.C. were trying to bring calm to an ugly feud that had ignited railway blockades across the country.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and the imbroglio suddenly seemed like a far less urgent priority.

As it turns out, however, the disagreement that began when a small group of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their supporters obstructed construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C. was not being entirely ignored. On the contrary, an extraordinary deal was being worked out between the two levels of government and a handful of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs that has the capacity to fundamentally alter politics in this country forever.

It also has the potential to be viewed, ultimately, as a horribly one-sided sellout by British Columbia and Ottawa.

The details of what the memorandum of understanding – hammered out between the two sides throughout April – entails have largely only been gleaned through leaks to the media.

For the rest of this article: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-wetsuweten-deal-could-be-a-recipe-for-disaster/