'I don't think we should be criticizing them just because they disagree with you, Judy,' Trudeau said as part of his response to a question from Chief Judy Wilson

OTTAWA — A group of First Nations chiefs is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to apologize for making “patronizing” and “sexist” comments, further heightening tensions over Ottawa’s position on the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

The demand for an apology came after Trudeau responded to questions from Judy Wilson, chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band in B.C., during a meeting with the Assembly of First Nations Wednesday. Wilson said Ottawa’s support for the pipeline expansion does not align with the prime minister’s speech to the United Nations last year, in which he categorized Canada’s past relationship with Indigenous people as one of “humiliation, neglect and abuse,” and promised to introduce policies that will help First Nations toward self-determination.

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“When you’re talking about the United Nations and you’re going to go with the self-determination and the consent, why wasn’t that applied with the Trans Mountain pipeline that’s going through 513 kilometres of our territory?” Wilson asked.

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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.

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The tensions point to a growing divide between Ottawa and opponents of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which worsened after Trudeau decided to purchase the pipeline for $4.5 billion in August. Construction on the Trans Mountain expansion was then delayed after a Federal Court of Appeal ruling compelled Ottawa to repeat a portion of its consultations with First Nations groups before the project could move ahead.

Trudeau and his cabinet ministers have remained vocal in their support for the pipeline expansion, claiming they can both support it and be a global leader on climate change. Meanwhile, the energy industry has become increasingly critical of the Liberal government amid record-low oil discounts for Canadian producers.

On Thursday morning, the UBCIC also demanded Ottawa revisit its decision to support the Trans Mountain project. Environmental activists and some First Nations communities have suggested that Ottawa’s decision to set timelines for its second round of consultations suggests its position on the pipeline is predetermined.

“Real consent is not manipulated and it is not hurried for the sake of a quick government deadline or biased interests,” Wilson said in a written statement Thursday morning. “Canada is in clear conflict as purchasers of the pipeline and needing to fulfil their fiduciary duty to First Nations as the Crown.”

Oral hearings for First Nations groups as part of the re-do of the National Energy Board’s Indigenous consultation process on Trans Mountain began November 20 in Calgary, and conclude this week in Nanaimo, B.C.