'Reconciliation is dead and it was never really alive': Jesse Wente

Demonstrations in solidarity withWet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose a pipeline in northern British Columbia are spreading across the country, including two protests in Ontario that have disrupted rail lines.

On Monday, Ontario Provincial Police descended on a rail blockade set up more than two weeks earlier by the Tyendinaga Mohawk near Belleville and charged 10 protesters.

In an opinion segment Tuesday on CBC Radio'sMetro Morning, columnist Jesse Wente reflected on the arrests and what they say about the experiences of Indigenous people in Canada.

"The events leave me both resigned and resolved," said Wente,an Ojibwe broadcaster and producer from the Serpent River First Nation in Ontario.

"Canada is a state built on removal of Indigenous peoples to make way for resource extraction companies."

You can listen to Wente's full radio opinion column below: