Assembly of First Nations chief calls for mass voter registration in hope of ousting Conservatives – Montreal Gazette
July 7, 2015
From the lectern at Place Bonaventure, Ghislain Picard gestured toward an empty seat in the front row of the conference centre Tuesday.
The aboriginal leader had previously taken the time to thank federal and provincial leaders for attending the Assembly of First Nation’s annual general assembly. He carefully singled out the New Democratic Party’s Romeo Saganash, Carolyn Bennett of the federal Liberals and Quebec’s Aboriginal Affairs minister, Geoffrey Kelley. Then, in a moment of pure political theatre, he seemed to lock his eyes on that empty seat in the front row.
“I would have liked to thank somebody from the federal government today but obviously that’s not the case,” said Picard, the Quebec regional chief for the AFN. His verbal jab elicited a hearty round of applause. “To me the fact that the government is not represented at this assembly, this week, with a federal election in October, it’s a perfect testimony of where they stand on indigenous issues in this country.”
