The elected chief and councillors of the WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n First Nation are asking to be included in discussions about the closed-door talks with the federal and provincial governments that resulted in a proposed settlement with hereditary chiefs and their land claims in northwest B.C.

WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n Chief Maureen Luggi and councillors Heather Nooski and Karen Ogen wrote to the Office of the WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n this week to remind hereditary chiefs of a 2016 agreement to include the WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n First Nation (WFN) and other elected councils in the territory. The , , , (Burns Lake Band) and Hagwilget First Nation councils have supported the Coastal GasLink pipeline that a group of hereditary chiefs oppose.

B次元官网网址淲e regret that to date, WFN has not had any meaningful engagement or collaboration with the Office of the WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n,B次元官网网址� the elected councillorsB次元官网网址� March 2 letter states. B次元官网网址淭his has resulted in our people being divided on a number of issues. To ensure clan members and band members are adequately informed, we need to develop a plan to work together on natural resources, cultural, education, social services and shared jurisdiction issues.B次元官网网址� (See full letter below)

B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser and federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett have said their proposal to the hereditary chiefs wonB次元官网网址檛 be disclosed until it is approved by the hereditary chiefs and their clans. Fraser and Premier John Horgan say the talks are about settling the long-standing WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n territorial claim, not the pipeline, which is fully permitted with work camps and right-of-way clearing underway.

Indigenous Relations Minister says talks were not a negotiation

B次元官网网址� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

Ogen is also CEO of the First Nations LNG Alliance, a group of area Indigenous communities supporting the gas pipeline and LNG project. After the proposed agreement with hereditary chiefs was reached last weekend, the alliance released calling on Mohawk and environmental protesters to give them time to work out their differences.

B次元官网网址淚 think the NGOs, the protesters and the Mohawks can stand down,B次元官网网址� Ogen said in the statement. B次元官网网址淭he WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n people got this.B次元官网网址�

She noted that all 20 first nations along the Coastal GasLink route have approved the project and reached benefit agreements with the companies building what is estimated as a $40 billion investment.

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Coastal GasLink will connect shale gas resources in northeast B.C. and northwest Alberta to a LNG CanadaB次元官网网址檚 liquefied natural gas export facility at Kitimat. It has been hailed by Horgan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the largest private investment in Canadian history, and a way to displace more carbon-intensive fuels in Asia.

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