I barely ever check Twitter. But yesterday I was alerted to a news story that stopped me cold in my tracks: "Ottawa won't appeal decision to block Northern Gateway Pipeline," to quote CBC's headline.
I think the reason I was rendered speechless for quite some time is that this decision seals the deal in my mind that we no longer live in a nation called Canada.
Rather, we live in a collection of little fiefdoms, and each one requires compensation to cross it.
For all the romanticism surrounding the foundation of certain nations, the bluntest reason behind any nation's founding, including our own, is to synchronize trade and economic activity, second only to self-defence.
If you don't believe me, just go ask any junior in high school what they were taught about France before and after Napoleon: before Napoleon, France had many different measurements and hundreds of toll roads; after Napoleon, everything is synchronized.
This is the golden thread that winds through every old empire's birth and even some of their former possessions as they moved toward autonomy. The old, diverse, localized medieval and feudal organization is cast aside in favor of centralized authority, defence and trade standards; with this efficiency of organization, empire building can ensue, which is exactly what came out of modern Europe - and Canada, if you ask certain cultural studies proponents.
That's where the Northern Gateway Pipeline issue takes off.
According to one version of history, Enbridge is simply one more investor in the economic infrastructure of the Queen's Dominion of Canada.
It will help Canadians continue to secure new markets for their energy, while simultaneously providing much-needed jobs both in construction and in the maintenance of the Northern Gateway Pipeline.
With the government's approval, construction ought to be a go.
But according to another version of history, the pipeline represents yet another incursion into the traditional lands of aboriginal peoples, many of whom have outstanding claims against the both the provincial and federal governments.
These lands are proclaimed as "unceded territory" and any trespass in them is actually believed to be an outright invasion of sacred space. In fact, some First Nations leaders have voiced the belief that they can defend their land with force.
It must be said in no uncertain terms that these two interpretations of history are completely incompatible. The former narrative is born out of rejecting the latter's values, not least of which is the rejection of sacred space; and the latter, as it exists today, is born out of a rejection of the alienation that modernity creates through technology, economics and political organization.
These aren't just different ideas - they are different dimensions and ways of being.
What this means for Canada in the long run is anyone's guess, but as the decision from the court outlines, more and more projects will have to conform to expectations from First Nations. How this is to be done considering the competing viewpoints and value systems is far beyond my ability to see. But one thing is certain: Canada and its government no longer holds a monopoly on final approval of economic activity within its own borders.
