PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. (FEBRUARY 10, 2020) \u2013 An agency of the British Columbia government has issued a news release attempting to explain its financial support for a pipeline protest camp where one of its current employees is also now employed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Unist’ot’en site in a remote location near Smithers is the eye of the storm in a heavily publicized dispute involving contested claims about which members of the Wet\u2019suwet’en Nation have the right to negotiate with governments and industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although 20 First Nations are supportive of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline, a number of individuals do not support it, claiming their hereditary authority supersedes that of ordinary Wet\u2019suwet’en members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Feb. 8, after protesters broadcast a video of an employee of the First Nations Health Authority taking part in the burning of a court injunction, the organization issued a news release<\/a> stating: \u201cThe FNHA is aware of a staff member who is currently on unpaid leave with a potential conflict of interest around this project. The staff member in question has completed all necessary conflict of interest documentation and has met all of the requirements.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FNHA staff member in question is Karla Tait, a niece of Unist’ot’en protest camp founder Freda Huson. The FNHA\u2019s reference to a conflict of interest appears to arise from the fact that Tait is employed by both organizations. There is also the matter of $400,000 in provincial government monies allocated last month to the protest camp, marking the first such spending decision that is publicly known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In effect, ordinary taxpayers are footing the bill for the privilege of blocking an approved infrastructure project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The FNHA news release came after I pointed in social media to Tait’s dual affiliation and the incongruity of a civil servant appearing to participate in the destruction of a court order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The release states that FNHA management will continue to monitor the situation and to follow up “as appropriate”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Feb. 8 video, published in social media, shows Huson, Tait and others barricading a public logging bridge over Morice River in defiance of a court injunction, while Huson burns what was claimed to be the court injunction currently being enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n