The political reaction from Indigenous groups to the new energy agreement between Alberta and Ottawa so far paints a seemingly unambiguous picture of fierce resistance to any plan for a new oil pipeline to the West Coast.
But that wall of opposition is not as clear-cut as it appears.
It’s true that the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which advocates for more than 600 communities, voted unanimously to defend the northern B.C. tanker ban and to urge the federal government to withdraw the said memorandum of understanding (MOU) last week.
But look a little closer, and a more nuanced discourse starts to emerge, suggesting a complex, but not impossible, path forward for any such pipeline to materialize.
