Canada’s Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations says that increasing First Nations capacity for self-governance is the way to solve jurisdictional disputes like the one in Wet’suwet’en territory.
Minister Carolyn Bennet says that by rebuilding hereditary structures, a better consensus of who speaks for each nation can be made.
Bennett points to the Indian Act’s imposing of elected Band Councils, splitting up larger nations, as the root cause of the problem.
She highlighted her government’s Nation Rebuilding Program as a way to improve self-governance in First Nations communities.
25 projects in British Columbia have drawn funding from the program so far, for a total of 4.75 million dollars.
Bennett did not comment on whether she believes the elected or hereditary chiefs have jurisdicion over the pipeline site, saying that’s up to each community to determine.
She says she has not been in contact with Wet’suwet’en leadership as the dispute falls wholly within BC’s jurisdiction.
