Roundup: Holding off on enforcement

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Indigenous protests continue across the country in support of those protesting the Coastal GasLink pipeline, with not only rail disruptions, but also blockades around legislatures and city halls (Halifax city hall being a target that nearly kept Chrystia Freeland from the building). Thus far, police have not cleared any of them despite warnings that enforcing the various court orders will be imminent, and even some Indigenous leaders are calling on their people to end the blockades. That doesn’t seem to have persuaded any of them just yet. (The Star hears from protesters themselves here).

While Jagmeet Singh is calling on Justin Trudeau to return from his foreign trip early to deal with the situation, and Andrew Scheer hinting that he wants politicians to direct the RCMP to enforce those court orders right away (which is a very bad idea and has led to past flashpoints with Indigenous communities), Trudeau says he and his Cabinet are monitoring the situation but are content to let the provinces continue to handle those issues that are within their jurisdiction – as well he should. I suspect that one of the reasons why the RCMP and OPP are holding off on any enforcement actions just yet are because moving too soon will simply generate more sympathy for the protesters and possibly escalate the situation across the country, whereas waiting another day or two will lose those protesters any sympathy as the inconvenience becomes too much for most Canadians, and that most of the protesters will get bored and go home on their own before too long.

Meanwhile, Susan Delacourt remarks on the impossible situation that Justin Trudeau has been placed in by this situation, while Chris Selley wonders how we can be considered a grown-up country if we can allow the disruptions to continue without treating it like a serious situation that it is for many people affected by it. As well, here is an explainer from last year about the dispute within the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, and how that affects the duty to consult.

Teck Frontier mine

I wanted to point you to this piece, written by energy economist Andrew Leach and environmental law professor Martin Olszynski, which puts a lot more facts and context on the table regarding the Teck Frontier mine application and what is really being considered by Cabinet. In particular, because market conditions have changed so much since the project was first proposed in 2011, and the (flawed) economic impact analysis along with it, it means that the expected economic benefits are far, far less than what was initially promised (when they assumed oil at $95/barrel; it’s currently hovering around $50/barrel), and that will have to weigh in on the government’s decision. After all, the decision tends to boil down to how much economic benefit is worth the significant adverse environmental impact of the project – and it will be significant. And if the benefits are far below what they were initially sold to be, does that make it worthwhile to approve the project knowing that the benefits won’t necessarily outweigh the impact. It’s certainly worth thinking on – especially as the provincial government is now casting aspersions on the First Nation that is balking after the lack of ongoing engagement, and the rhetoric continues to heat up to outsized proportions.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau has apparently secured Senegal’s vote for the UN Security Council seat, and the hopes are that they have the influence in the region to get more votes.
  • François-Philippe Champagne will be hosting the Lima group in Ottawa next week to discuss next steps regarding Venezuela.
  • NATO defence ministers have agreed to expand the training mission in Iraq, essentially doing as Donald Trump has demanded of them.
  • In advance of the public safety committee meeting on parole issues, the head of the union for federal justice workers recounts the legacy of Conservative cuts.
  • Here’s a look through some recent Order Paper questions on government spending.
  • The AFN is launching a class-action lawsuit so that victims of child and family services apprehensions that fall outside of the CHRT order get compensation.
  • Toronto lawyer Leslyn Lewis is now officially in the Conservative leadership race – beating Marilyn Gladu – and has the endorsement of Campaign Life Coalition.
  • A group of Conservatives is preparing to organize for John Baird if he decides to run for the leadership. (I still maintain he won’t).
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column previews the return of Commons committees.
  • Nathan Tidridge gives a history of the relationship between Indigenous people and Crown, and why abolishing the monarchy would complete the colonial project.
  • Kevin Carmichael looks at where AI research is heading in Canada, and why that’s important to our economic future.
  • Chris Selley is baffled at how Erin O’Toole can claim to be the “true” Conservative candidate if Harper parked the party just slightly to the right of the Liberals.
  • Robert Hiltz wonders about the differences in police responses to the various protests over the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Holding off on enforcement”

  1. Andrew Scheer: “Trudeau interfered with the rule of law!”

    Also Andrew Scheer: “Why won’t Trudeau interfere with the rule of law?”

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