If Richmond council declares its support for Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, it could cause friction between the city and senior levels of government – this is the message from city staff as council gets set to discuss a motion from Coun. Michael Wolfe to make a declaration of solidarity with the group opposing a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C.
A Richmond staff memorandum doesn’t make any recommendations on whether to support a declaration or not.
The memo was added to Monday’s general purposes committee at the mayor’s request to update senior staff on the motion with background on the project, consultation with First Nations, how other municipalities have responded to the situation as well as the timeline of events.
The staff report explains that if the federal and provincial governments interpret the motion as saying they are not handling the issue properly and that they should halt the project and consult with the Wet’suwet’en people, this could cause friction.
There was consultation by the Coastal GasLink with the 20 elected First Nations bands in the area, but the hereditary chiefs have challenged the decision to move ahead.
“Determining which parties have authority to give approval to the project is outside of municipal scope and jurisdiction,” the report states.
There have been protests across the country in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs with rail lines blocked and major intersections disrupted.
One Richmond RCMP officer has been sent to help the provincial operations during the first week of the blockade. Since then none others have been deployed.
