Conservative leader made remarks during first in-person speech to AFN since becoming leader
CBC News: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made his first in-person speech to the Assembly of First Nations Thursday, promising the chiefs gathered in Montreal to reduce the federal government’s role in their lives and give them more say over their economic future.
“I’m not here to run your life. I don’t want to run anybody’s life,” Poilievre said. “I want to run a small government with big citizens free to make their own decisions and live their own lives.”
Poilievre said every delegate in the room is a leader that knows their communities better than Ottawa does, and better than he does, promising to get rid of the “Ottawa knows best” approach that he says has only led to destructive policies that harm First Nations.
“For too long, you have been held back by a broken system that takes power away from you and places it in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa,” he said.
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Poilievre referenced the residential schools apology that former prime minister Stephen Harper made 16 years ago but did not reference remarks he made to an Ottawa radio station on the same day where he said former residential school students need a stronger work ethic, not more compensation dollars.
“My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance. That’s the solution in the long run. More money will not solve it,” Poilievre said at the time.
He later apologized for his comments in the House of Commons.
In December 2022, Poilievre addressed the assembly with a video message, which received boos from some people in attendance.
Poilievre booed by delegates at the Assembly of First Nations
WATCH | Poilievre booed by delegates at the Assembly of First Nations: 2 years ago, Duration 2:46
In a recorded address, Leader of the Opposition Pierre Poilievre outlined his commitments to First Nations communities at the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly.
Click on the following link to view the video:
In advance of the speech Doig River First Nation Chief Trevor Makadahay told CBC News that he asked the Conservative leader about his past comments and he thinks “[Poilievre] is up for the challenge to change things for the better.”
Makadahay said Poilievre told him that he didn’t have the “full understanding of everything when he made the comments.”
Makadahay has endorsed Poilievre’s plan to let First Nations collect taxes from industrial firms operating on their land — one of his first detailed policy positions on Indigenous issues since he won the party leadership race in 2022.
AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told CBC News Wednesday that she’s met Poilievre “a couple of times now” and the most recent meeting was “days ago.”
Woodhouse Nepinak said it’s important for Poilievre to speak to chiefs about issues Indigenous communities are facing.
“The discussions that we have to have with each other about the history of this country or the things that we’re currently facing, they’re not easy to talk about, but we’re there,” she said.
A strained relationship
The Conservative Party has struggled to make inroads with Indigenous communities. Some delegates to the AFN meeting cited the legacy of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who led the Conservative Party for 11 years.
In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Woodhouse Nepinak discussed Idle No More, a widespread Indigenous-led protest movement that was triggered in part by the Jobs and Growth Act, a sweeping and controversial omnibus bill introduced in 2012 by Harper’s government.
Indigenous communities feared the bill would diminish their rights while making it easier for governments and industry to develop resources without strict environmental assessments.
In advance of the speech Tsartlip First Nation Chief Don Tom said that “our experience in the past hasn’t been great working with a Conservative government, so we’re a little bit worried.”
Liberal record on reconciliation ‘will speak clearly’ at election time, minister says
WATCH | Liberal record on reconciliation ‘will speak clearly’ at election time, minister says: 22 hours ago, Duration 0:48
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree says he’d be proud to put his government’s record on reconciliation up against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s ‘any single day of the week.’ Poilievre is scheduled to speak at the Assembly of First Nations annual general assembly on Thursday in Montreal.
Click on the following link to view the video:
Tom said he wants Poilievre to go “beyond fiscal help” in the federal government’s relationship with First Nations. He added he’s not sure how the Conservative leader will be received by the chiefs when he makes his speech.
“But I think if it’s leaning toward a Conservative government, we want to hear what their intentions are. We want to hear what their priorities are,” Tom added.
Jennifer Laewetz, a policy analyst with George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, said “there’s a lot of history with the Conservative Party of Canada and there’s a lot of things that need to be mended and need to be fixed.”
Laewetz said she met Poilievre at an AFN meeting last December. She said she was “shocked that he had given me the time of day, especially as a young Indigenous person that’s not really in any position to be talking to these politicians.”
On Wednesday she told CBC News she’ll be listening closely to what Poilievre tells the chiefs adding she’s “really hoping” Poilievre doesn’t rely on his signature taglines, like “axe the tax” and “stop the crime.”
“We’re going to need real action and we’re going to need to know how [a Poilievre] government is going to work,” Laewetz said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Benjamin Lopez Steven, Olivia Stefanovich · CBC News ·
Benjamin Lopez Steven, Reporter
Benjamin Lopez Steven is a reporter and part-time writer for CBC News Network. He’s also a recent journalism graduate from Carleton University. You can reach him at benjamin.steven@cbc.ca or find him on Twitter at @bensteven_s.
With files from The Canadian Press