Reconciliation between Ottawa and Indigenous people requires resource exploitation, says Poilievre

Photo: Ryan Remiorz The Canadian Press Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre delivered a speech to the Assembly of First Nations, which is holding its annual general assembly this week at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told indigenous leaders gathered in Montreal on Thursday that their children “could be the richest in the world” if they agree to join natural resource exploitation projects , which he promises to promote.

“If reconciliation means anything, it means saying yes to the economic opportunities that First Nations are asking for,” said Mr. Poilievre in a speech mainly in English during the major annual meeting of the Assembly of First Nations. Nations (APN).

According to his vision, Canada is full of natural resources whose exploitation is essential to ensure economic growth and the well-being of the First Nations Peoples. His account places the Trudeau government and its “crazy” (“wacko”) Minister of Environment, Steven Guilbeault, as what is preventing Indigenous people from “taking back control of their resources.”

It proposes a model that will “simplify” negotiations between Indigenous people and mining and oil projects, for example, by allowing communities to impose their own taxes and conditions. “It means listening to you when you have fears about projects, yes, but it also means listening to you when you support development. […] Your right to say yes is as important as your right to say no,” argued the politician, who is currently leading national polls.

The Conservative leader did not fail to launch an arrow at large companies who would consider flying in foreign workers for their activities. “They should be offering these jobs to indigenous youth. »

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Same values ​​?

Pierre Poilievre began his speech by assuring that he shares “the values ​​of precolonial institutions”, such as faith in a supreme creator, attachment to traditions or even the entrepreneurship demonstrated by the First Peoples in commerce. Even though he was in Quebec, he only spoke about twenty words in French, acknowledging his presence on the traditional lands of the Kanien'kehá nation: ka.

< p>Some indigenous leaders turned their backs on the Conservative leader during his speech as a form of protest. During a short question and answer session, a British Columbia Indigenous leader, Judy Wilson of the Neskonlith Nation, accused him of remaining silent on the issue of the climate emergency and of not having said word on missing and murdered indigenous women or the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“If you are working to be the Prime Minister of Canada, that tells me that you still have a lot to learn on these subjects,” she blurted. . Another indigenous leader noted that many communities are aware of the value of the resources, but want to leave the land as it is.

As for responding to him, the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh, also delivered a speech to the AFN delegates. He directly accused Pierre Poilievre of lying to them and of tolerating denialists in his ranks regarding the horrors of residential schools for Indigenous people. “He will never do what it takes to bring justice to indigenous people! He will reduce your services and make you responsible for the difficulties you are experiencing,” he railed.

Right to consent< /h2>

The NDP leader offered his own version of reconciliation between Ottawa and Indigenous peoples, which “cannot happen unless [their] right to informed consent is respected.” He promises to build a nation-to-nation relationship, while criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not having done so.

Jagmeet Singh, for his part, presented the grounds of the Palais des congrès de Montréal as unceded Mohawk territory. He had been present in the Quebec metropolis since the day before to launch the New Democratic campaign for the upcoming by-election in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun.

The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, was in Washington on Thursday, in the United States, at the summit of NATO countries. On Wednesday, Indigenous leaders expressed their dissatisfaction with his government to his representative at the AFN assembly, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Gary Anandasangaree.

The Canadian Press reported that the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, briefed the country's leaders on a proposed $47.8 billion deal with Ottawa in subject of child protection reforms.