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These self-appointed potentates are not only thumbing their noses at the rule of law, but at their own members. For example, Wet’suwet’en member Philip Tait told CTV that he is hoping to get a job with the project. “Right now, this is probably got one of the biggest job creations in the province here, and we want to be part of it,” he said. “The hereditary chiefs’ office, they don’t speak for the whole clan.”

Another member, Bonnie George, added that, “A majority of our people do want to see this project go through. The reason why it’s not out there is because people are afraid to speak up, but that’s starting to change.”

This week, faced with a propane shortage due to the blockade, Quebec Premier François Legault demanded Ottawa must get “involved, because it (the blockade) doesn’t only concern Quebec. It concerns all provinces.”

Yet the federal government’s response has been irresponsible at best. Transport Minister Marc Garneau said enforcement of court orders is up to provinces. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Crown-Indigenous relations minister referred media calls to the natural resources minister’s office, which, in turn, said the matter was a provincial issue. When asked, the prime minister merely said the protests were “an issue of concern” and that he is encouraging “all parties to dialogue to resolve this as quickly as possible.”

In the absence of federal intervention, the crisis will escalate. The chiefs are now demanding that B.C. cancel all permits for this and other resource projects and that the RCMP and provincial authorities vacate the territory. They also invoked a groundless report by the United Nations committee on the elimination of racial discrimination, which urged Canada to stop the Site C dam project, the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion and this Coastal GasLink pipeline, on the basis that the rights of indigenous people have been ignored.

Now a full-blown secession crisis is underway, thanks to the the Liberal government’s abdication of its responsibility to uphold the laws, democratic rights and courts of Canada for all Canadians. It’s a disgrace.

Financial Post