Blame Media and Politicking for Pipeline Protests, Says Former Chief

Protesters in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs camp out on the steps of the B.C. legislature before the speech from the throne in Victoria, B.C., on Feb. 11, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Former Haisla Nation chief Ellis Ross says media and politicking over Indigenous rights are indirectly to blame for the spate of disruptive blockades in some of Canada’s major cities.

Ross, now a Liberal ML in the B.C. legislature, signed a $50 million deal with Kitimat LNG to build a liquified natural gas plant on First Nations territory in northwestern British Columbia—part of the stalled Coastal GasLink pipeline project—when he represented Haisla Nation.