What happens next with CoastalLink and the Wet’suwet’en will have ripple effects right across the country. More projects will come up for approval soon — starting with the giant Teck Frontier mine in Alberta, which now awaits a final decision from the federal cabinet at the end of the month.

So this is a test case. Underlying it all are two fairly basic questions. Why is this happening? And what’s the right response?

The answer to the first question is less obvious than it seems.