Commitment to Reconciliation in Question as Federal Party Leaders Avoid BC Assembly of First Nations Annual General Meeting
Press Release
September 13 2021
Commitment to Reconciliation in Question as Federal Party Leaders Avoid BC Assembly of First Nations Annual General Meeting
(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) Federal Party Leaders were unwilling to address the assembled chiefs of British Columbia during the BCAFN Annual General Meeting. This puts their commitment to true and lasting reconciliation in question.
“During the current federal election, I expected more from Trudeau, O’Toole, and Singh,” said BCAFN Regional Chief Terry Teegee. “They have all paid a great deal of lip service to Indigenous issues, but are unwilling to actually appear before the leadership of First Nations in BC. If they can’t spend ten minutes addressing these issues during the election, what kind of attention will they pay to reconciliation once they are elected?”
The BC Assembly of First Nations represents all 204 First Nations in the province, and is once again holding a virtual annual meeting due to the ongoing COVID public health emergency. Conservative, Liberal, and NDP Federal Party Leaders were invited to deliver a short message via online video conference to the Chiefs in assembly during the meeting. While Justin Trudeau was actually in Vancouver during the meeting, even he would not agree to spend a few minutes with BC First Nations leadership. All leaders were given plenty of notice and flexibility in scheduling to address the BCAFN Annual General Meeting.
The BCAFN AGM is being held between September 14th and 16th and will include the election of a Women’s Representative, and will affirm two board positions. A number of Indigenous candidates running during the federal election will also address the chiefs in assembly.
For more information on the BCAFN AGM, visit https://events.bcafn.ca/annualgeneralmeeting2021/
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For further information, contact:
Annette Schroeter, Communications Officer. Phone: (778) 281-1655.
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