OTTAWA -- Racist taunts and threats of violence against Indigenous peoples following protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline are "horrible," the federal Minister of Diversity and Inclusion said on Wednesday.
Bardish Chagger blamed calls for violence against Indigenous people as "deliberate ignorance" in response to recent rail blockades across the country, and that the hatred must be combated by educating Canadians about the "true story" of Canada, written and told by Indigenous peoples themselves and not by others, said Chagger, who is also Minister of Youth.
Chagger contends that she herself heard testimony of threats against Indigenous people who demonstrated and blocked railways in support of hereditary chiefs from Wet'suwet'en, British Columbia, who oppose the passage of a natural gas pipeline in their unceded territory.
"Some of the comments I received in my office are intentionally ignorant and very hurtful," she said. "They are not tolerated by myself or by this government. What we want to do is provide better education and more information."
Since the blockades - some lasted a few minutes, others have been there for more than three weeks - many Indigenous people have claimed to be the target of outright racism, which they attribute to the current crisis. A hockey player was verbally abused during a game in Calgary and a video of Alberta high school students threatening violence against Indigenous people was posted online.
Social media was also a particularly intense venue for hatred. A news site in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario made the decision to close the comments section at the bottom of the articles on Indigenous issues. In Ottawa, a group of Indigenous youths cancelled a weekly meeting after receiving a threatening message about the use of firearms.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Mar. 4, 2020.
