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“First Nations have an inherent right to control the lands they have long lived and worked on, and UNDRIP is a key tool to ensure that our rights are upheld and respected by the Canadian government.”

But I see no problem with Scheer’s position. Our courts and constitution ensure that a project like TMX won’t proceed unless every reasonable Indigenous concern is met.

Politically, TMX is also a dead duck unless there’s a major First Nation ownership stake in the project. Scheer hasn’t made clear he supports that ownership stake but that’s where he’s going to have to go — considerably further than any Conservative government in the past — if he wants to see this project succeed.

I’m going to leave the last word here to businessman Calvin Helin of the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation on the northwest British Columbia coast. Helin is project chairman of the proposed Eagle Spirit pipeline corridor from the oilsands of Fort McMurray to the coast, with the support of all 35 First Nations along the route.

I asked Helin about the allegation that Scheer’s position is racist.

“If he is elected as the national leader, one of his primary responsibilities is to look after the national economy. If he thinks he’s looking after the national economy, I don’t know how that’s racist.”

First Nations along a pipeline route already have the constitutional right to be consulted and accommodated, Helin said, so if UNDRIP were to be adopted its meaning would have to be made more clear. If UNDRIP means an absolute veto for any one First Nation, Helin says that would make it impossible to negotiate with dozens of First Nations on a single major project.

“The strategy of anybody in that group of communities (along a pipeline route) would be to hold out until the last minute, realizing that you could probably get the best deal if you did. So you’d never be able to get anything done. Just from a purely practical point of view, how would you get something done? I don’t know how you would.”

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