Former PM Chretien says Canada united, despite current blockade tensions

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OTTAWA -- Former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien says that Canada is "more united than ever," despite the divisions exposed amid the cross-Canada rail blockades in solidarity with some Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs.

Speaking with reporters at an event in Ottawa, Chretien said that Canada is always facing unity struggles—as recently seen with western alienation—but this specific instance of balancing resource development, the environment, and land rights is not going to "break the nation." He was in town as part of the University of Ottawa Professional Development Institute and the Canada School of the Public Service's "Prime Ministers Series."

"Canada is stronger than that. We always face the problem and resolve them," he said, amid suggestions from some that Canada is “broken” or that reconciliation is “dead.”

"We're more united than ever," he said, comparing the current state of the country to the crises and inflamed tensions he faced in his tenure as prime minister, which included overseeing the Quebec Referendum, suggesting that Canada has made it through worse.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked for patience when it comes to resolving the ongoing dispute over the development of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in British Columbia.

While a tentative proposed agreement between the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and the federal and provincial governments was reached over the weekend, and rail service is slowly getting back on track, the matter and the broader questions of Indigenous relations and reconciliation remain far from settled.

"There's always problems to be resolved, and when we face them we think that it is very difficult, we always find a solution. They will find a solution, we have to be patient, and you have to apply the right values and do your best," said Chretien.

The former prime minister also weighed in on some of the pressure that Trudeau has faced amid these protests, saying that Trudeau "has absolutely no authority" to have the police intervene when there is a blockade.

"It is the attorney general of the province who has the authority of the police… Trudeau cannot send [in] police himself," he said, adding that similarly sending in the army would require the request of the premier of that province.

As for the ongoing feeling of western alienation, Chretien said that he doesn't see the sense in separating, stating that it wouldn't move Alberta any closer to the Pacific to enable the province to get its oil to market.

In an interview on CTV's Power Play, Finance Minister Bill Morneau was asked about the frustration over a recent decline in investment in Canada's natural resource sector, given the recent decision from Teck Resources to withdraw its application for an oilsands mine in Alberta and the resistance to the Coastal GasLink project from some.

Morneau said that while there are "challenges," the government is "working through" them.

"There are always going to be challenges in getting big important things done. There's going to be people with different points of view," Morneau said.

RELATED IMAGES 1 / 2 Former prime minister Jean Chretien speaks at an event held by the University of Ottawa Professional Development Institute and the Canada School of the Public Service, in Ottawa, on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Members of the Mohawk community stand near the entrance to the blockade of the commuter rail line Wednesday, February 26, 2020 in Kahnawake, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz