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The dispute over the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline through traditional Wet’suwet’en territory may not yet be resolved, but there has been progress.
Hereditary chiefs from the territory, as well as ministers from Ottawa and B.C., have met in recent days and have brokered a tentative but “milestone” deal to better recognize Indigenous rights. Wet’suwet’en members still need to discuss the deal before details are released publicly.
That discussion among the Wet’suwet’en will be the one to watch. Many of those who live in the territory support the project and the money it brings to their communities – while others who oppose say the gains will be fleeting. The Globe and Mail’s Nancy MacDonald has been travelling the territory to better understand the views of those whose lives will be most affected by the pipeline.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
As the Liberal government prepares to set new limits on the sale of assault rifles in Canada, new types of the firearms continue to go on sale.
The coronavirus outbreak could damage the global economy and cut growth in half, the OECD is warning.
There are eight official candidates for the Conservative leadership race, the party announced on the weekend. (Social conservative Richard Decarie is not among them.) Of the eight, only one has jumped all the signing and money-raising hoops already: former Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay. In an interview with The Globe, Mr. MacKay (who wants an election this fall) said he was proud of his legacy as justice minister under Stephen Harper. He was fairly light on specifics when it came to policies he would champion as leader, however.
And the race to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee got a shake-up on the weekend, as former vice-president Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary in a landslide. Mr. Biden, who had trailed in earlier contests, suddenly has almost as many pledged delegates as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The two, plus Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and late-entrant billionaire Michael Bloomberg, are the main candidates heading into tomorrow’s Super Tuesday, when large states will hold their primaries for the first time. Former small-city mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out on the weekend and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar dropped out today.
Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail) on Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s suggestion the province could buy oil-sands projects: “You could be forgiven for wondering where the man who has gone out of his way to praise “principled” conservatism – where one will stick by conservative tenets despite the political cost – has gone. Protecting the oil and gas industry seems to be worth this change of heart for Mr. Kenney. The Alberta Premier is making the argument this dramatic shift is necessary in the context of project cancellations like the Frontier mine, regulatory uncertainty and delays, and ‘a hostile policy setting from Ottawa.’"
Chris Turner (The Globe and Mail) on the future of the energy industry in Alberta: “Imagine if Alberta’s political leadership saw climate change not strictly as an impediment but as an opportunity to re-engineer the provincial economy for a future in which oil and gas still employ thousands but the new low-carbon economy drives new growth.”
Adam Radwanski (The Globe and Mail) on federal efforts to lower emissions outside of the oil patch: “That could include being more aggressive in addressing road transportation, the next biggest source of emissions after the oil and gas industry. Ottawa has made investments to try to hasten a shift to zero-emissions vehicles, mostly through charging infrastructure and purchase rebates, but it could be more ambitious on those fronts. And it has a lot more sticks that it could wield in the form of price signals to consumers and industry regulation.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on what Peter MacKay believes in: “Sometimes he is in one position and its opposite, notably on climate change. The front-runner won’t be nailed down on much except that he thinks carbon taxes are bad. He both dismisses the need for Canada to reduce emissions and says it is important to do so.”
Scott Reid (The Globe and Mail) on the rise of Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and other political outsiders: “We often complain about politicians who fail to put country before party. Yet we fail to recognize the risks of propelling those to office who have never been required to put party before self. Those who concede to the discipline of party loyalty and who occasionally quiet their own voice in service to a wider chorus, develop certain skills and accumulate certain lessons.”
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