B.C. pipeline protests continue to halt Ontario trains for 5th day in a row

[taxslave]

Meanwhile in Quebec....
Quebec, James Bay Cree announce $4.7-billion development deal
The vision for the program that includes rail networks and wildlife habitat protection “came from us,” a Cree leader says.

CHRISTOPHER CURTIS, MONTREAL GAZETTE Updated: February 17, 2020
Premier François Legault and the James Bay Cree have signed a $4.7-billion deal that will extend rail networks north, protect new wildlife habitats against development and partner on new infrastructure projects.
The Grand Alliance is a “new chapter” in the relationship between both governments, Legault said Monday. An extended rail network means more minerals can be extracted from mines in the boreal forest and shipped to American and German markets.

By increasing rail capacity, Legault says Quebec will offer North American and European businesses an alternative to Chinese imports.

“It will create well-paying jobs in the Cree community but also foster a new generation of Cree entrepreneurs,” said Legault, who called the deal a model of nation-to-nation governance.

The alliance, he says, balances environmental protections with economic development.
“We, the leaders of the Cree nation, are here today not to make a sacrifice or surrender,” said Abel Bosum, Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees. “We’re not forced to make a concession. We have the right to choose. The vision for this program came from us. It represents our vision of sustainable development.”
Lithium from mines in Cree territory takes a meandering route south; one involving trucks that snake on logging roads, offload their cargo onto a train network badly in need of an overhaul.

Legault says the project will have twofold affect in curtailing greenhouse gas emissions. An extended rail network means diesel trucks are virtually taken out of the equation. And the fact that they’re carrying lithium — used in batteries that fuel electric cars — will also have on impact in fighting climate change.

The Cree and Quebec government will split the cost of studying the new railroad — which Legault said will cost “in the tens of millions of dollars.” The plan also includes hundreds of kilometres of power lines and roads linking remote Cree villages to the outside world and the construction of a deep sea port in James Bay.
It is the extension of a series of treaties between Quebec and the Cree — one that began with the 1976 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and extended to the Paix des Braves in 2002.

“This is the return on the investment Quebec made (in the Cree),” said Bosum. “It is a model of nation-to-nation governance.”
source: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-james-bay-cree-announce-4-7-billion-development-deal
"My guess, no environmental assessment required, no protests to happen and the entire project will be fast tracked... Must be nice to be called Quebec and not Alberta"

Are the trains solar powered?

 

[petros]

Marge Simpson grew a beard. Far out.

 

[Decapoda]

My what a lot of problems over one little pipeline.

LOL!!! You think this is about a pipeline? You're even f***ing dimmer than I figured. The majority of these protestors don't even know what's in this pipe. Hell... Most of them likely couldn't find BC on a map. I suspect you would fit in well... Your kind of peeps.

 

[Twin_Moose]

RCMP investigating after truck driver goes through Wet’suwet’en supporters’ Manitoba blockade

RCMP are investigating after a truck driver refused to stop for a group of protesters -- allegedly hitting at least one of the demonstrators -- while they blocked Highway 75 near Morris, Man., Monday, police say.
A handful of protesters had set up along the highway, temporarily blocking southbound traffic to one lane. Demonstrators were briefly holding up semi-trailers before letting them on their way after handing over information about treaty rights.
One driver, captured on video by Global News, appeared to ignore two protesters standing on the road. The driver is seen attempting to drive around them in the right lane before two more protesters on the shoulder ran out in front of the truck.
The driver then turns back into the left lane in an attempt to avoid the blockade a second time.

READ MORE: Wet’suwet’en supporters set up blockade on Hwy. 75 in Manitoba

Mike Hawkins said he was one of the protesters who attempted to stop the semi and was injured in the process.
"He decided just to run the blockade and try to run us over there because he was running straight for us and I stuck my hand out and my front arm, my hand caught the fender there and jarred my elbow and my shoulder there and that hurt," Hawkins said.
Police said the semi that was involved was stopped by officers following the incident and information was taken from the driver before he was allowed to proceed.
Officers are also reviewing the video of the incident and will not speak about potential charges until the investigation is over, according to a Manitoba RCMP spokesperson.
The Monday protest was part of a Canada-wide movement aiming to shut down the country’s economy in the wake of RCMP enforcement of a court injunction against the Wet’suwet’en members blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline near Houston, B.C.
RCMP moved into the traditional, unceded Wet’suwet’en territory on Feb. 6.

The $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink project is meant to carry natural gas from northeastern B.C. to Kitimat.
The company has signed benefits agreements with all 20 elected Indigenous councils along the route.
But hereditary chiefs who oppose the project say elected councils only have jurisdiction over First Nations reserves. The hereditary chiefs claim authority over rights and title to land that was never covered by treaty.

Frustration with the rule of law spilling over

 

[pgs]

RCMP investigating after truck driver goes through Wet’suwet’en supporters’ Manitoba blockade



Frustration with the rule of law spilling over

If there was such of thing as the rule of law those protesters wouldn’t have been there .

 

[Twin_Moose]

If there was such of thing as the rule of law those protesters wouldn’t have been there .

Too true

 

[Jinentonix]

Trudeau had to exclude Scheer because none of the other leaders would attend if Scheer was allowed in.

Too much racism.

Oh by all means, do point out where Scheer said anything racist. Unless you're suggesting it's racist to enforce the law. We know May doesn't give two shits about court injunctions. No wonder May is invited, she has zero respect for the law as well. So basically what's going on in Ottawa is a big ol' circle jerk amongst party leaders who have no respect for the law at all. I mean, who knew it was racist to apply the law equally to everyone. Nah, racism is when you decide that Native people won't be allowed to get a piece of the resource action. Gotta keep them uppity injuns in the poor house ya know.


China called by the way. They're wondering when "Mr. We respect the rule of law in Canada" is going to hand Ms. Wanzhou back to them.

 

[Jinentonix]

Yeah, and Scheer is the racist. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Mowich]

'Serious damage': Businesses warn of looming layoffs, loss of sales as rail disruption drags on
​

Businesses are warning of looming layoffs, lost revenue and a hit to Canada’s reputation, as rail disruptions drag on in the country.

A coalition of 39 industry associations wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday, calling on him to “work urgently” with First Nations and police to bring the blockade to a peaceful end.

“The damage inflicted on the Canadian economy and on the welfare of all our citizens mounts with each hour that these illegal disruptions are allowed to continue,” the coalition said, which represents automotives, mining and numerous other industries.

While the members said they share the government’s commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous groups, the blockades “inflict serious damage on the economy, leaving countless middle-class jobs at risk, many of them in industries that must get their goods, parts, and ingredients to and from market by rail.”

“In addition to disrupting domestic and global supply chains, the blockades undermine Canada’s reputation as a dependable partner in international trade,” they said in the letter.

The rail blockades sprung up on Feb. 6 as Indigenous groups and activists across the country protested in solidarity with the hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs that are opposed the Coastal GasLink project in British Columbia. The hereditary chiefs oppose the pipeline through their traditional territory, though it’s received approval from elected band councils.

Meanwhile, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations called for calm and constructive dialogue to ease tensions. National Chief Perry Bellegarde said governments and industry need to give the time and space to work with the Wet’suwet’en.

“We say we want to de-escalate and we want dialogue,” he said. “And I say our people are taking action because they want to see action — and when they see positive action by the key players, when they see a commitment to real dialogue to address this difficult situation, people will respond in a positive way.”

The rail stoppages has forced Via Rail and Canadian National to halt its operations for more than a week, bringing a key artery of Canadian transportation infrastructure to a halt. On Tuesday, Via Rail said it’s preparing to resume part of its passenger rail service.

Many businesses executives are already counting the cost of the rail paralysis.

Dennis Darby, CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, estimates around $425 million of manufactured goods is sitting idle as shipments are stalled, based on Statistics Canada numbers and rail usage estimates from Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Co.

“We’ve talked to a number of members here in Ontario and many of them said if (the blockades) extend into that two-week range, most companies will have to start temporary layoffs and cutting shifts, because we just don’t have the inventory,” Darby said during a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday.

Mississauga, Ont.-based Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is also facing escalating costs as it tries to get its perishable products shipped out in time, according to its president Curtis Frank.

“While it is true that we have already begun to move loads by truck wherever we can, the fact of the matter is that road transportation is becoming harder and harder to secure every day,” he said at the press conference.

Just under a third of Maple Leaf’s revenue is dependent on the movement of perishable products through the rail network in some way, Frank said.

Other industry executives underscored the need to get infrastructure projects built in the country.

“It hurts, because it suggests you can’t get anything done in Canada,” Steve Laut, executive vice-chairman of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., told the National Post in an interview Tuesday. “And it’s hurting investment across the board.”

“It’s about the pipelines, but it’s also not about the pipelines — it’s about a number of other issues that Canadians have not addressed for a long time.”

Agriculture industry groups have also warned that recent blockades would deepen the financial pain felt by farmers after a dismal harvesting season.

“These new blockades are once again hampering the ability for farmers to get their products to port, especially those in Western Canada,” the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said in a written statement Tuesday.

The protests could put additional pressure on the Canadian economy at a time when the Canadian economy remains vulnerable after narrowly avoiding a contraction in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who is preparing to release the federal budget in coming weeks, has already warned that the spread of the coronavirus could weaken economic output. Slumping Canadian manufacturing sales in December could add to those woes, while blockades threaten to further depress business investment.

“We see that the blockade does have real economic impacts,” Morneau told reporters on Tuesday.

Nathan Janzen, senior economist at RBC Economics, said that the blockades may result in a two or three tenths of a per cent drop in the first quarter GDP, with an expected reversal in the second quarter.

However, with large disruptions such as strikes, the manufacturing industry usually experiences a “significant” bounce back. “You’re delaying activity but not losing it altogether in a lot of cases,” he said.

“You build up inventory for a while and eventually a lot of that production is going to be backloaded. You lose production in the near term but maybe then you add shifts temporarily to make up for lost production when you regain transportation capacity.”

CME’s Darby hopes that the government can reverse the declines in Canada’s industrial economy. “I hope very strongly that the government will be able to come up with a long-term solution. It’s not about necessarily just solving this issue today about this particular blockade. It’s about how to give manufacturers, or any industry, predictability.”

The right to protest is “part of the Canadian history,” but the government must step in because the protests are “hurting our economy,” he said.

business.financialpost.com/news/economy/serious-damage-businesses-warn-of-looming-layoffs-loss-of-sales-as-rail-disruption-drags-on?video_autoplay=true

 

[Mowich]

John Robson: Of course politicians can give orders to the police — who else do they report to?
​

Dale Carnegie warned years ago against starting any persuasive effort with “You’re an idiot because…” So let me gently suggest that many commentators on the failure of Canadian police to enforce injunctions against illegal blockades might want to reconsider the sudden conventional wisdom that politicians must not tell the police to do their job.

Thursday’s National Post quoted B.C. Premier John Horgan that “I don’t want to live in a society where politicians direct police to take action against other citizens … that’s why we have courts.” And, the Post added, “Marc Garneau, the Liberal transport minister, said court injunctions that CN Rail obtained late last week to clear out protesters ‘must be respected’ but cautioned it wasn’t up to governments to order police how to proceed.” Then Garneau’s boss interrupted his lectures about carbon footprints to hop off an airplane from Africa to the Middle East to Africa to Germany to tell journalists “We are not a country where politicians can order the police to do something”.

Oh really? Then who can? Or are they a law unto themselves?

Some say yes. Including a Post colleague who recently wrote: “Just as the RCMP have court authorization to clear protesters and encampments along the pipeline route, the Ontario Provincial Police have court authorization to clear the Mohawk rail blockade near Belleville, Ont. Unlike the RCMP, the OPP refuses to exercise its authority. And we just have to live with that. Conservative politicians are barking at Justin Trudeau to ‘enforce the law,’ but he doesn’t give orders to the OPP, and neither does Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and nor should we want them to.”

Oh yes he does. And oh yes we should. Ford is their boss, so if they don’t answer to us through him, they don’t answer to anybody.

In Canada, as everywhere, governments do three things: make rules, enforce rules and settle disputes about rules. In most places, including Canada, the three functions are separated formally: the legislature makes rules, the executive enforces them and the judiciary settles disputes about them. Despite recent blurring of the legislature and executive, their functions and institutions remain separate, including if the legislature dissolves cabinet remains in office.

Now here’s the part people apparently find tricky. We have laws against illegal blockades. Courts have issued injunctions. So now the executive must enforce those injunctions. But how?

Pop quiz: Which branch of the government are police forces part of? Do they make laws? I should hope not. Do they decide cases?

Ods fish no. So they must be in the executive branch. They must have the job of enforcing laws. As we all surely knew anyway.

Next pop quiz: Who heads the executive branch?

In Canada it might look like a trick question because formally it’s the Queen. But in practice it’s the First Minister. Which might look like a trick answer because in a federation there’s one First Minister provincially and another federally. But there’s no trick.

Provincial police report to the provincial Premier; federal police to the Prime Minister. Through channels, including Attorneys-General.

But ultimately they must, because the relevant First Minister reports to the legislature which reports to us. If people with guns and badges are outside this chain of authority they are accountable to no one, inside or outside government. And we don’t want that and shouldn’t.

True, we don’t want politicians meddling in the day-to-day conduct of law enforcement. If they micromanage operationally it undermines effective policing, and if they give partisan direction it corrupts the rule of law. But the alternative is not for politicians never to say anything to the police.

It’s to tell them to enforce the law or get fired, leave it to them to work out the details, impose administrative penalties including dismissal if they refuse lawful commands and haul them into court if they commit serious breaches of the law while or instead of enforcing it.

I sympathize with the police lament that firm action is denounced as brutality and caution as fecklessness. But as Derek Burney just wrote, enough is enough. Our police forces “are idled, awaiting the direction no one in government seems willing to give.”

They must do so. There is no alternative. After telling politicians not to tell the police to do their jobs, my colleague quoted above wrote “Still, you might expect senior ministers to have moderately stern words for folks illegally causing economic harm. You might expect the prime minister, at a minimum, to be in the country.”

Which Trudeau now is, minus the stern words. But what’s the point of stern words if they are empty? They’re like laws that don’t get enforced because the police won’t do their job and we’ve somehow convinced ourselves nobody can tell them to.

Surely we aren’t such idiots.

nationalpost.com/opinion/john-robson-of-course-politicians-can-give-orders-to-the-police-who-else-do-they-report-to

 

[Mowich]

How to arrest protesters
​

The government, elected officials and bureaucrats alike, in a democracy has many jobs but one duty – to uphold the law. If the people in government are unwilling to fulfill their duty, they should ask themselves why anyone should obey the new laws they pass while in power.

The law in this democracy allows for peaceful protest. Freedom of assembly is enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Like all freedoms, there are limits. Citizens are free to assemble in public places to protest, grieve, celebrate, communicate. Once that assembly involves the occupation of government offices and the blocking of roads and railways, it infringes upon the rights of others to move freely and it breaks the law.

More often than not, the police in this country arrive, inform the citizens that their assembly is now in violation of the law and ask them to leave. Although ignorance of the law is not a legal defence (meaning the police have the legal authority to show up and immediately make arrests), police officers inform the gathered citizens of the unlawfulness of their actions because arrests are the last resort.

Whether it’s domestic disputes or disturbing the peace, the longstanding practice of Canadian police forces is to give citizens the opportunity to back down.

If those citizens are still unwilling to legalize their behaviour, they are arrested.

Many of the current protests across Canada - like the one held in Prince George last Saturday - are legal. Many are not and those protests should be handled accordingly.

Some of the most passionate protesters are on social media, comparing their causes to Martin Luther King and Gandhi. Aside from the vanity of equating oneself to King or Gandhi (the equivalent of picking up a guitar and proclaiming to be like Bob Dylan), these protesters clearly don’t know much about either man or the protest movements they led. Gandhi and King knew their acts of civil disobedience were in violation of the law and would lead to their arrest. They welcomed it. The black men and women who occupied whites-only lunch counters in the South (the customers were still allowed to eat and the staff were still allowed to cook and serve) were specifically chosen for their calm patience. They would not get upset when people yelled at them, threw things at them or physically assaulted them. When police officers arrived, the protesters told them they would not leave until they were arrested but would not resist arrest or confinement in any way.

Instead, it appears so many of the protesters resist arrest (passive resistance is still resistance), call the arresting officers horrible names and claim that any physical restraint used on them is an act of violence. King and his supporters knew the difference between a night stick smashed over your head and an officer firmly leading you to the back of a squad car.
Most of the current online rants on both sides are horrible, not only because they are intentionally ignorant of the issues and the history but also because they promote more conflict. Political parties, social (anti-social?) activists and environmental groups are the worst, with their email blasts and Facebook posts to their supporters, stoking the outrage and then pleading for money to keep up the good fight. When the battle ends, the cash stops flowing in so these hucksters just want to keep the conflict going.

Beware also the hypocrites. How can someone rip up teachers contracts while in government, forcing teachers to wage a 15-year legal battle to get their rights back and then, without any sense of shame, demand the premier use the rule of law to deal with protesters blocking entrance to the Legislature? And how can someone insist governments respect legal decisions recognizing the authority of First Nations and then shamelessly argue that the government and the courts have no authority when the ruling doesn’t go their way?

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law,” King wrote in Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Note the language - “willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment” and “expressing the highest respect for law.”

King had faith in two concepts that were, at the time, in opposition. He believed in the righteousness of his cause (and his ability to convince others of his righteousness through dialogue) and he also believed in justice and the law, even when it put him in a cage.

Whether you support the current protests or any other acts of civil disobedience or not, everyone who believes in democracy can agree on two things – the right to lawfully protest and the sanctity of the law.

If the protest is unlawful and if the protesters are unwilling to back down once the police show up, the protesters should be respectfully and safely arrested without delay. The protesters being arrested should be likewise respectful of the arresting officers and the courts doing their jobs enforcing the law. If the police, the protesters or counter-protesters are violent or incite violence, they should be legally held responsible.

The police, the courts and the law itself are imperfect instruments to build a just and democratic society but they are the best tools we have. While they have failed us at specific times, they have also been tremendously successful over the course of our common history.

www.princegeorgecitizen.com/opinion/editorial/how-to-arrest-protesters-1.24078504

 

[pgs]

How to arrest protesters
​

The government, elected officials and bureaucrats alike, in a democracy has many jobs but one duty – to uphold the law. If the people in government are unwilling to fulfill their duty, they should ask themselves why anyone should obey the new laws they pass while in power.

The law in this democracy allows for peaceful protest. Freedom of assembly is enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Like all freedoms, there are limits. Citizens are free to assemble in public places to protest, grieve, celebrate, communicate. Once that assembly involves the occupation of government offices and the blocking of roads and railways, it infringes upon the rights of others to move freely and it breaks the law.

More often than not, the police in this country arrive, inform the citizens that their assembly is now in violation of the law and ask them to leave. Although ignorance of the law is not a legal defence (meaning the police have the legal authority to show up and immediately make arrests), police officers inform the gathered citizens of the unlawfulness of their actions because arrests are the last resort.

Whether it’s domestic disputes or disturbing the peace, the longstanding practice of Canadian police forces is to give citizens the opportunity to back down.

If those citizens are still unwilling to legalize their behaviour, they are arrested.

Many of the current protests across Canada - like the one held in Prince George last Saturday - are legal. Many are not and those protests should be handled accordingly.

Some of the most passionate protesters are on social media, comparing their causes to Martin Luther King and Gandhi. Aside from the vanity of equating oneself to King or Gandhi (the equivalent of picking up a guitar and proclaiming to be like Bob Dylan), these protesters clearly don’t know much about either man or the protest movements they led. Gandhi and King knew their acts of civil disobedience were in violation of the law and would lead to their arrest. They welcomed it. The black men and women who occupied whites-only lunch counters in the South (the customers were still allowed to eat and the staff were still allowed to cook and serve) were specifically chosen for their calm patience. They would not get upset when people yelled at them, threw things at them or physically assaulted them. When police officers arrived, the protesters told them they would not leave until they were arrested but would not resist arrest or confinement in any way.

Instead, it appears so many of the protesters resist arrest (passive resistance is still resistance), call the arresting officers horrible names and claim that any physical restraint used on them is an act of violence. King and his supporters knew the difference between a night stick smashed over your head and an officer firmly leading you to the back of a squad car.
Most of the current online rants on both sides are horrible, not only because they are intentionally ignorant of the issues and the history but also because they promote more conflict. Political parties, social (anti-social?) activists and environmental groups are the worst, with their email blasts and Facebook posts to their supporters, stoking the outrage and then pleading for money to keep up the good fight. When the battle ends, the cash stops flowing in so these hucksters just want to keep the conflict going.

Beware also the hypocrites. How can someone rip up teachers contracts while in government, forcing teachers to wage a 15-year legal battle to get their rights back and then, without any sense of shame, demand the premier use the rule of law to deal with protesters blocking entrance to the Legislature? And how can someone insist governments respect legal decisions recognizing the authority of First Nations and then shamelessly argue that the government and the courts have no authority when the ruling doesn’t go their way?

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law,” King wrote in Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Note the language - “willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment” and “expressing the highest respect for law.”

King had faith in two concepts that were, at the time, in opposition. He believed in the righteousness of his cause (and his ability to convince others of his righteousness through dialogue) and he also believed in justice and the law, even when it put him in a cage.

Whether you support the current protests or any other acts of civil disobedience or not, everyone who believes in democracy can agree on two things – the right to lawfully protest and the sanctity of the law.

If the protest is unlawful and if the protesters are unwilling to back down once the police show up, the protesters should be respectfully and safely arrested without delay. The protesters being arrested should be likewise respectful of the arresting officers and the courts doing their jobs enforcing the law. If the police, the protesters or counter-protesters are violent or incite violence, they should be legally held responsible.

The police, the courts and the law itself are imperfect instruments to build a just and democratic society but they are the best tools we have. While they have failed us at specific times, they have also been tremendously successful over the course of our common history.

www.princegeorgecitizen.com/opinion/editorial/how-to-arrest-protesters-1.24078504

Good one .

 

[Mowich]

Via Rail issues temporary layoffs to nearly 1,000 workers as blockades continue
​

www.cbc.ca/news/business/via-rail-layoffs-1.5468617

Court grants CN injunction against rail blockade in west Edmonton
​

'Albertans will not be economic hostages to law-breaking extremists,' justice minister tweets


Around 20 demonstrators set up a blockade on a CN Rail line west of Edmonton on Wednesday morning. (Craig Ryan/CBC)

An Alberta judge has granted CN an injunction against a small group of demonstrators who blocked the company's main rail line in west Edmonton.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Belzil said Wednesday the injunction will last 30 days and will apply across Alberta. CN can ask to have the court injunction extended beyond that time frame.

Hours before the case was heard, Premier Jason Kenney said the Alberta government expects that police will enforce any orders made by the court.

"We have a highly respected and independent judiciary, and in cases where judges issue injunctions to stop illegal blockades then it's the job of the police to enforce those injunctions," Kenney said during a news conference in Calgary.

About 20 demonstrators set up the blockade across the tracks at about 4 a.m. MT Wednesday in the area of 110th Avenue and Range Road 261.

The blockade was the latest protest staged in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who oppose a natural gas pipeline project in British Columbia.

In a post from a Twitter account set up Wednesday morning, a group called Cuzzins for Wet'suwet'en said it is staging the protest "in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en."

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/rail-blockade-wet-suwet-en-edmonton-1.5468200

 

[Hoid]

I understand there are many good pipeline jobs out there.

 

[B00Mer]

I understand there are many good pipeline jobs out there.

What you define Pipeline Blockades as a job now?

Go back to your basement to jerk off or something.. Buh bye

 

[Mowich]

Reconciliation, the rail blockades and the problem with asking for 'patience'
​

Canadians might be more willing to wait - if they knew what they were waiting for
​

Appearing to deviate from his prepared remarks Tuesday morning on the Indigenous protests that have snarled Canada's major railways over the last week, Justin Trudeau offered a few thoughts on the general state of public discourse.

"In this country, we are facing many important and deep debates," he told the House of Commons. "More and more, we see those debates carried with increasing intensity on the margins of our democratic conversations."

A few moments later, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer stood and declared that Trudeau's full statement "was the weakest response to a national crisis in Canadian history."

"Will our country be one of the rule of the law or will our country be one of the rule of the mob?" Scheer asked.

Trudeau appears to have decided that talking tough isn't likely to bring about a swift resolution. He's never really been much for fire or brimstone anyway.

At the very least, Trudeau now knows exactly what will be said of him if the current impasse persists. Regardless, he might still need to do more to fill the space between those margins.

No ultimatums, no swagger

Scheer may have been hoping Trudeau would deliver something like his father's "just watch me" moment — a quip celebrated for its cinematic swagger even as it rationalized a massive breach of civil liberties (and even if invoking the War Measures Act didn't do much for extinguishing the sovereignist movement in Quebec).

From Justin Trudeau, there were no denunciations, threats or ultimatums. Instead, the prime minister called for things like patience, listening, partnership, collaboration and trust.

"This is our opportunity now to bring these perspectives together," Trudeau said, referring to his government's outreach to the Mohawk Nation and the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs. "Because what is the alternative? Do we want to become a country of irreconcilable differences where people talk but refuse to listen, where politicians are ordering police to arrest people, a country where people think they can tamper with rail lines and endanger lives? This is simply unacceptable."

Of Indigenous leaders and peoples, he said, "We are not asking that they stop standing up for their communities, rights and for what they believe. We only ask that they be willing to work with the federal government as partners in finding solutions."

It's easier to talk tough from the opposition benches, particularly after you've surrendered any hope of being prime minister. But Scheer clearly spoke for some segment of the Canadian public.

At some point, protesters might decide that they risk alienating too many members of the public. Ultimately, the long view might convince everyone to step back.

Trudeau's plea for patience could apply both to those who would like the trains to start running again and to those who would like reconciliation to be realized. "Patience may be in short supply," he said, "and that makes it more valuable than ever."

But patience is harder to maintain when it's not clear how much longer one has to wait.

What Trudeau didn't offer was a specific plan — or even a sense, however vague, of how things might play out. Maybe he can't say.

Maybe private negotiations require a certain amount of discretion.

Rage rushes in

But in the absence of details, denunciation and rage can rush in to fill the gap.

Trudeau is caught now between those who claim reconciliation is dead and those who, without quite saying so, want him to order the RCMP to arrest anyone and everyone who blocks a railroad track. But he has struggled to occupy and hold space on reconciliation throughout the last four and a half years.

Having embraced the idea of reconciliation, he has had a hard time claiming or showing progress. He would insist that real progress has been made — Trudeau said on Tuesday that his government has "invested more than any other government to right historic wrongs." But there have been significant conflicts and a few setbacks.

Conflicts and setbacks likely were inevitable — but if it was widely believed that reconciliation has real momentum, that substantial progress is being made, Trudeau might have a stronger hand to play now and protesters might have a harder time holding their line.

Instead, it has been easy to proclaim that reconciliation is a lost cause.

"The prime minister promised to be different," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Tuesday morning, "but he broke those promises and he did not show himself to be very different."

Tuesday's speech might have been a good opportunity for Trudeau to push back more forcefully — to take up more of the space between the extremes and his critics.

If nothing else, Tuesday morning's speeches in the House may have served to crystallize the stakes of this current dispute for the prime minister, and perhaps the future course of reconciliation.

As long as this dispute continues, Trudeau risks looking weak or incapable, or simply something less than he promised to be. And if enough people come to that conclusion, it might end up being someone else's turn to confront the realities of reconciliation.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rail-blockade-mohawk-wet-suwet-en-indigenous-reconciliation-1.5467197


Risks looking weak or incapable? LOL FFS he is WEAK and INCAPABLE.

 

[taxme]

Awe, horse manure. The native Indians have been collecting billions of taxpayer's tax dollars for several decades now and yet it is still not and never enough. The Indians in Canada today should be one of the wealthiest people in Canada. I had to work to be able to buy a home. Why did the Indians not do the same thing with all of the money that they were getting for free? What happened to the Indians centuries ago is not my problem. I had nothing to do with it but yet I am being blamed for their lack of how to manage all the tax dollars that was given to them. And besides what did they ever do with the land that they live on? Nothing.

At least the British/European settlers who founded and built up Canada did something with the place, and the native Indians have benefited big time from those new settlers. The native Indians need to stop biting the hand that feeds them. Many native Indian bands have their own land, so what is their problem? Do something with their land. Maybe we should stop them from coming on our lands instead and give them a piece of their own mind. Works for me!

 

[Twin_Moose]

Well here you go Red Apple politics in action

Kanesatake chief retracts rail blockade comments after community uproar

If he wouldn't have retracted and apologized he might have been stripped of title and banished, all for a white corporation out of Ont.

 

[taxme]

What you define Pipeline Blockades as a job now?
Go back to your basement to jerk off or something.. Buh bye

They are jobs that are being created for the native Indians and all concerned. If we waited for native Indians to do anything and try to create thousands of new jobs we would probably be waiting for another hundred years. There is nothing so ignorant by those who bite the hand that feeds them. Maybe the taxpayer's of Canada should stop all payments to native Indians and let them start up their own jobs on their own lands. If they have a problem with the non-native people in this country, well stay off their lands then. I think that we will do just fine without any of your help. Just saying.

 

[B00Mer]

They are jobs that are being created for the native Indians and all concerned. If we waited for native Indians to do anything and try to create thousands of new jobs we would probably be waiting for another hundred years. There is nothing so ignorant by those who bite the hand that feeds them. Maybe the taxpayer's of Canada should stop all payments to native Indians and let them start up their own jobs on their own lands. If they have a problem with the non-native people in this country, well stay off their lands then. I think that we will do just fine without any of your help. Just saying.

In the USA they are raking in lots of cash with casinos owned by the natives.