The federal government has said that for now it has no intention of using physical force to end Indigenous demonstrations across Canada.

“We have the experience of Oka 30 years ago where people went in with police and someone died,” Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller told the Globe and Mail yesterday (February 16). “My question to Canadians, my questions to myself and to fellow politicians regardless of the party, is whether we do things the same old way and repeat the errors of the past, or do we take the time to do it right?”

Earlier this month, protesters blocked railways, ports, and strategic roads after the B.C. government failed to reach an agreement with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs on the $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline.

The pipeline is planned to run from northeastern B.C., near Dawson Creek, to a port in Kitimat, from where natural gas will be exported to international markets, primarily in Asia. Construction is underway in most areas already with the exception being a section of the pipe that’s proposed for unceded Wetʼsuwetʼen territory near Houston, B.C.

The Indigenous Services Minister’s mention of Oka references a 1990 dispute between the Canadian government and the Mohawk people in Quebec. The 90-day standoff left 75 Indigenous people injured. Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) suffered more than 20 casualties. In addition, one CAF soldier was killed in a firefight.

Protests in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs’ opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline began in B.C. on February 6 and spread across Canada the following day.

Since then, freight trains have remained in railyards, ships carrying goods from around the world are stuck in long queues at ports like Vancouver’s, and traffic disruptions have continued on roads and highways.

Yesterday (February 16), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cancelled travel plans and convened an “incident response group” meeting with cabinet ministers to discuss the ongoing “infrastructure disruptions” and a “path forward”.