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Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. As commission counsel, Ian accompanied
Justice Berger throughout the Mackenzie Valley and the Western Arctic,
from Old Crow to Fort Smith, in an effort to determine the social, environmental
and economic impact of the proposed Arctic Gas pipeline on the
Indigenous peoples of the North. Essentially, the report concluded that the
pipeline would not be accepted by the Indigenous population and would
severely alter their way of life and recommended that a ten-year moratorium
be implemented to allow land claims to be settled. The federal government
concluded that no pipeline would be permitted. During his work on the
inquiry, some of the Indigenous people called Ian “the little squirrel”, a nickname
which may or may not have been warmly received by Mr. Waddell.
Although it may sound like a cliché, it is nevertheless true that Ian had a
lifelong passion for justice. He served as an NDP Member of Parliament for
14 years. In his second year as an MP, he sued the entire federal Cabinet
over the proposed Foothills Pipeline, arguing that the approval for the “prebuild”
pipeline was an impermissible “Henry VIII” clause.2
Subsequently, he was an NDP member of the B.C. legislature. He served
as both the Minister of Tourism and Culture in 1998 and was, for a short
while, the Minister of Environment. Ian is widely credited with helping prepare
and win the bid for the 2010 Olympics. He was a natural salesman and
promoter of our province and our country. Ian’s energy was legendary. He
was indefatigable. He had a positive attitude and infectious enthusiasm, and
if he ever felt defeated, he never let it show.
In his post-political career, Ian returned to the practise of law but also
became an accomplished film producer. Perhaps his interest in filmmaking
was a result of his role in the B.C. government, where he was one of the first
advocates for dramatically increasing tax credits and other supports, which
have fostered a multi-billion-dollar industry and which have led British
Columbia to become “Hollywood North”. He also produced a documentary
titled The Drop: Why Young People Don’t Vote. It examined why younger voters
often fail to make it to the polls. In 2016, his documentary won the best
producer award at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. Ian also wrote a biography,
Take the Torch, as well as a spy thriller, A Thirst to Die For, which was
set in Ottawa.
Ian’s proudest achievement was his contribution to entrenching s. 35 in
the Constitution Act, 1982. While an MP, Ian had passionately advocated for
an Aboriginal rights section to be included in the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms, which Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had tabled in the
House of Commons on October 6, 1980. At the time, many western MPs
were opposed to the Trudeau package of constitutional renewal. Ian made