The federal government needs to listen when First Nations want resource development: Senator Wells – SenCanada
May 14, 2024
First Nations want to have a say in their economic future, and the government needs to get out of the way.
Instead, the Trudeau government has pushed an ideological narrative that aligns with its extremist environmental agenda. One example is Bill C-48, which, in 2019, banned oil tankers off the north coast of British Columbia. Testifying before the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, then-transport minister Marc Garneau argued that those supporting Bill C-48 “is a coalition of all the remaining Indigenous communities along the coast, which incidentally represent a majority — the Haida, Heiltsuk, Haisla, Metlakatla, Gitga’at, Kitasoo, Gitxaala and even the hereditary leaders of the Lax Kw’alaams.”
The problem with Garneau’s argument was that the Metlakatla denied support for Bill C-48. When the minister was questioned about this at his next committee appearance, he said he couldn’t recall his initial remarks.
We have repeatedly seen this battle of narratives:
