Trudeau: Blockades ‘must now come down’

Bloomberg

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged his government’s efforts to negotiate a solution to rail blockades across the country have failed and signaled he would be open to police intervention.
Efforts by his ministers to reach out have not been productive and he has “no choice” but to stop making overtures and call for the barricades to come down, Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa.
“We cannot continue to watch Canadians suffer shortages and layoffs,” the prime minister told reporters, adding that the responsibility to enforce court orders lies with provincial police forces. “The barricades must now come down,” he said.
The comments represent a dramatic turn of events in the third week of blockades that have crippled the nation’s rail network, shutting down freight traffic in eastern Canada and bringing a halt to most intercity passenger service.
Trudeau’s government had emphasized the need to engage with protesters and indigenous groups in the hopes of a reaching a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Environmental and indigenous-rights activists have obstructed rail lines in several provinces, protesting the construction of TC Energy Corp’s planned $5 billion Coastal GasLink project.
The pipeline would ship natural gas to an LNG export facility under construction on the coast of British Columbia that is backed by Royal Dutch Shell, PetroChina and three other partners.
Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are standing firm in their demands that the RCMP depart from their traditional lands, and that all construction on the Coastal GasLink project stop before “nation to nation” dialog can begin between the indigenous group and the governments of British Columbia and Canada.
The territory “was never ceded or surrendered, and as such, Canada’s actions amount to an illegal occupation,” Hereditary Chief Woos told reporters in Tyendinaga, Ontario, where he and other leaders met with Mohawk supporters.
He said the chiefs have put a “path of peace forward, in order that nation to nation discussion with Canada and BC may occur freely and without duress.”
Trains would be allowed to pass through the territory once the RCMP leave, Woos said.
The disruptions have gone on too long and are beginning to have widespread economic impacts, Trudeau said.