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Maybe not everyone in a Nation agrees with the pipeline or LNG. That would be true in any community, Indigenous or non-Indigenous. But the majority of the people within the communities have agreed with the projects. And some of these elected councils have hereditary chiefs as members.

The elected councils are still leaders, trying to do their best with the means that they have, committed to moving forward and finding ways and means to address economic and social issues.

Until there is another mode of governing within our communities, this is the only structure we have in place that has legal jurisdiction. It is the only legislation in place at this moment. It will take years of litigation before we have a new form of governance in our communities.

But our people can’t wait. We need to address the poverty and social issues now. And that’s the fact that the axe-grinders are missing. When, in all of their arguments, do the people and their interests get mentioned?

This is a critical time because there are going to be more natural-resource projects coming along and we need to find a way forward together. We need to sit down collectively and work together — for the people.

Karen Ogen-Toews is CEO of the First Nations LNG Alliance and a former chief councillor of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

Letters to the editor should be sent to provletters@theprovince.com. The editorial pages editor is Gordon Clark, who can be reached at gclark@postmedia.com.

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