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Northern B.C. MLA slams Leonardo DiCaprio for 91Ƶmisinformed91Ƶ support of pipeline opposition

91ƵLeonardo DiCaprio, you have no idea what you91Ƶre talking about91Ƶ: Ellis Ross on actor91Ƶs pipeline tweet
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In a series of tweets, Skeena BC Liberal MLA Ellis Ross called out Hollywood heavyweight Leonardo DiCaprio for his allegedly 91Ƶmisinformed91Ƶ comment in support of the Wet91Ƶsutwet91Ƶen Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline opposition.

91ƵYou have no idea what you91Ƶre talking about,91Ƶ Ross told DiCaprio on Twitter. 91ƵGive me a call. I91Ƶll tell you the other side of the story as an Aboriginal leader who was on the front of this project from day one.91Ƶ

Ross91Ƶs comments were a response to the American actor91Ƶs own tweet in which he highlighted the pipeline opposition in northwest B.C. to his 19.4 million followers on Twitter and shared a video of the RCMP raid posted by the Gidimt91Ƶen Checkpoint group.

91ƵAfter setting up a blockade to protect their land, community, and sacred headwaters Wedzin Kwa from Coastal GasLink91Ƶs planned fracked gas pipeline, the Wet91Ƶsuwet91Ƶen Nation has faced militarized raids from the RCMP. We must protect the rights of land defenders,91Ƶ read DiCaprio91Ƶs Nov. 22 tweet.

This is not the first time DiCaprio has been vocal about environmental issues in B.C. Back in June, he joined a list of celebrities and tweeted in support of protecting old-growth forests in the province in wake of the Fairy Creek blockades on Vancouver Island.

The CGL pipeline opposition gained worldwide attention after videos of RCMP arresting people who had set up blockades near Houston mid-November went viral on the internet.

Pipeline opponents have repeatedly stressed on the environmental concerns of the pipeline being built under the Wedzin Kwa (Morice River), without consent from hereditary chiefs. The 670-kilometre-long CGL pipeline in northwestern B.C. by TC Energy is being built to deliver natural gas from the Dawson Creek area to the LNG Canada facility in Kitimat.

Ross, who was the former chief councillor for the Haisla Nation on whose territory the LNG Canada terminal is being built, has been vocal about his support for resource development economies for First Nations.

The BC Liberal Leadership candidate used this opportunity to speak out in support of the $40 billion LNG Canada project.

Since his initial Twitter response, Ross penned an open letter to Leonardo DiCaprio published in the National Post where he further elucidated on the many reasons why the actor is 91Ƶwrong.91Ƶ

91ƵBy encouraging illegal activity in the name of 91Ƶconservation91Ƶ you [DiCaprio] are, in reality, harming the hard-working people 91Ƶ Indigenous and non-Indigenous 91Ƶ who are leading the way on providing environmentally sustainable solutions for my province,91Ƶ read a statement from the letter.



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