MONTREAL - Protesters in two regions of Quebec are maintaining their rail blockades for the time being in spite of a draft deal reached Sunday in British Columbia between Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and senior government ministers. Kenneth Deer, the secretary of the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, says the community will meet later today to discuss whether to dismantle the blockade they've maintained on their territory south of Montreal since Feb. 8. Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and [Read more]

SMITHERS, B.C. - Bonnie George walked out of the Office of the Wet'suwet'en holding her hands up in the air in a triumphant gesture. Just hours earlier, the Wet'suwet'en matriarch and former Coastal GasLink employee had complained about being locked out of the office and her voice not being heard. Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs were meeting with senior government ministers over a pipeline dispute that's sparked national protests and led to railways and roads being shut down. The talks [Read more]

SMITHERS, B.C. - The hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en are scheduled to meet for a second day with senior federal and provincial ministers today as they try to break an impasse in a pipeline dispute that's sparked national protests and led to disruptions in the economy. Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser began the long-sought talks Thursday afternoon. They wrapped up after about three hours with [Read more]

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will sit down with provincial and territorial leaders on March 13 to wrestle with some of the thorny issues that are dividing the nation. The first ministers' meeting, to be held in Ottawa, is to cover climate change, the economy, health care, infrastructure and equalization. Announcement of the meeting comes as Trudeau is struggling to reconcile the competing demands of environmental concerns, resource development and Indigenous reconciliation. It [Read more]

CALGARY - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is warning the province's $1-billion fund established last year to support Indigenous participation in major projects won't have any projects to back if the forces that helped kill the Frontier oilsands mining project this week continue to achieve their goals. In a speech at the Indigenous Participation in Major Projects conference in Calgary that heavily criticized "green left urban militants," Kenney insisted his government is the one that has the best [Read more]

OTTAWA - Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the Mounties have left the site of a disputed natural gas pipeline project in British Columbia, but he appeared to dismiss the notion that police will move completely out of the vast Wet'suwet'en territory. The hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en Nation at the heart of ongoing countrywide rail and road disruptions have said they will not end their protest of the Coastal GasLink pipeline until the RCMP leave their territory entirely and the [Read more]

CALGARY - Alberta government lawyers are to be in a Calgary court today to ask for a stay of an order requiring it to make a decision on a proposed oilsands project near Fort McMurray. Last week, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Barbara Romaine gave the province 10 days to make a decision on the Rigel project. Prosper Petroleum Ltd. argued that waiting for the last 19 months for the province to decide on the project has been unreasonable. It was initially proposed in 2013 and approved by [Read more]

TYENDINAGA MOHAWK TERRITORY, Ont. - A police operation that saw officers descend on a rail blockade on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in central Ontario and arrest several protesters has cleared the way for train service to resume. Ontario Provincial Police say officers moved in Monday morning after efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution were exhausted and a midnight deadline to clear the blockade, which has brought freight and passenger rail traffic in much of Eastern Canada to a virtual [Read more]

EDMONTON - Alberta politicians are returning to the legislature with a promise of new legislation targeting protesters who set up blockades. Premier Jason Kenney says he plans to table a bill today that would create stiffer penalties for "anyone who riots on or who seeks to impair critical economic infrastructure, including railways." The United Conservative leader has been critical of protesters who have set up blockades on rail lines in support of the hereditary chiefs of the [Read more]