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In response, Trudeau said there are “lots of reasons” for people to support the Trans Mountain project, and that Canadians should “respect people’s choices to support or to not support” such developments. “And I don’t think we should be criticizing them just because they disagree with you, Judy,” he added.

Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/CP

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs demanded an apology to those comments in a statement Wednesday evening, saying Trudeau had been “patronizing and offensive, as well as threatening.”

“You responded by using her first name, which was completely disrespectful and ignored protocol,” the letter said.

The UBCIC also said that Trudeau had used an “overtly sexist approach” in the discussions, because he dismissed Wilson’s comments while taking a more sympathetic tone in response to a male chief’s questions about the ostensibly flawed consultation process for the Trans Mountain pipeline.

In his response to Lee Spahan, chief of the Coldwater Indian Band, Trudeau conceded Ottawa “didn’t do a good enough job” in its prior consultations on the project, the UBCIC statement said.

“No relationship is more important to our government than the one with Indigenous peoples,” said Matt Pascuzzo, press secretary in the prime minister’s office, in an emailed statement to the National Post. Pascuzzo said Ottawa is “engaging with 117 Indigenous groups” on Trans Mountain, and said it “will take the time needed to move forward in the right way.” He did not respond directly to a question as to whether Trudeau would apologize as requested.