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SMITHERS — Talks that were intended to de-escalate a dispute over a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia have failed after just two days.

Hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en nation said they had agreed to seven days of negotiations with the provincial government in hopes of reaching a peaceful resolution that would avoid RCMP enforcement of an injunction on the First Nation’s traditional territory near Houston.

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Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser and hereditary chief Woos both said Wednesday the talks were respectful but unsuccessful.

“All of us are concerned about safety so that’s one of the common themes,” Fraser said in an interview from the airport in Smithers, the town where the meetings were held.

“What I was hoping that we all could agree to was even a temporary access protocol agreement similar to what was in place a year ago and to allow the company access, which is what the courts had ordered basically in its injunction.”