Meet B.C. Chief Aaron Pete, one of the hottest new voices in Canada

Douglas Todd: The 30-year-old chief is attracting millions of viewers and readers by probing for a middle way on some of the most polarizing debates of our era, including regarding Indigenous affairs

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B.C. Chief Aaron Pete is becoming one of the hottest new voices in Canada.

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He’s attracting millions of viewers and readers by probing for a middle way on some of the most polarizing debates of our era, including Indigenous rights.

Yet, even while he’s making waves as a podcaster, commentator and public speaker, this week the chief of the Chawathil First Nation, also know as Chowéthel, was focussing on the difficulties caused by flooding in his people’s territory, which is in and around the town of Hope.

Even though he’s constantly working on housing, day care and sewer system challenges for his 650 members — part of the larger Stó:lō Nation — 30-year-old Pete doesn’t forget his broader effort to “find higher ground” on today’s controversies.

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He wants to take a different approach than Indigenous leaders who had to “bang on tables in order for anyone to listen,” he said.

“I think that approach needs to change. It’s no longer about: ‘Please come to the table and stop ignoring us.’ It’s now about ‘How do we make sure that this table works for everybody? For all Canadians, for all people across this great province?’”

It’s time, Pete said, to sidestep “us versus them” attitudes and aim for some subtlety. His surprisingly popular Substack and podcast series is titled

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