June 11, 2012 - 3:11 PM
HAZELTON, B.C. - A six-month blockade of the Gitxsan Treaty Society office in Hazelton, B.C., has ended peacefully.
The protest in the northwest B.C. village began when a hereditary chief signed an agreement with Enbridge to support to proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline from Alberta to the B.C coast.
The dispute escalated amid complaints by blockade organizers that native negotiators were spending millions of dollars during the treaty process, but had made little headway.
With RCMP officers standing by, auditors from Aboriginal and Northern Development Canada entered the office and secured computers that will allow them to do an audit of Gitxsan finances.
Gitxsan chief treaty negotiator Bev Clifton Percival says the society agreed to the audit as an act of goodwill to appease the protesters and clear them out of the office.
Percival says there was no true reason to occupy the office because there is no agreement with Enbridge and if the protesters had attended meetings about the treaty process they would understand where the money is being spent.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012