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Whenever there has been a development in the dispute between the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and the federal government, Frank Alec has been the man in front of the television cameras, the voice of the chiefs at the negotiating table.

The dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline, a project that crosses over land the Wet’suwet’en claim as their traditional territory, fuelled protests across the country in support of the Wet’suwet’en, including rail blockades and sit-ins in government offices — and captured national attention.

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Alec, whose hereditary name is Chief Woos, emerged as a central figure in the dispute that has roiled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and animated the Conservative Party’s leadership race.

Last Sunday, when the government and hereditary chiefs reached a deal after days of meetings in Smithers, B.C., it was Woos who spoke to the media, alongside senior government ministers. Trudeau had dispatched Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, to meet with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. She was joined there by her B.C. counterpart Scott Fraser.