National Chief Perry Bellegarde faces divisions over pipelines as AFN meets

AFN national chief Perry Bellegarde.

Anti-pipeline chiefs preparing to walk out Tuesday when Justin Trudeau addresses the assembly

By John Paul Tasker, CBC News, December 5, 2016

First Nations leaders who support pipeline projects are afraid to speak out because they have become stigmatized by some protesters, AFN national chief Perry Bellegarde said.

“There’s a stigma now attached to supporting economic development. There’s a stigma that somehow you’re not a First Nations person, if you support a pipeline,” he said in an interview with CBC News. “I think we have to slow down and stop and say ‘We balance things between the environment and the economy.'”