Federal Budget Offers Cold Shoulder to First Nations – Chief Isadore Day – Net Newsledger
April 22, 2015
THUNDER BAY – ANISHINABEK – Chief Isadore Day, Wiindawtegowinini of Serpent River First Nation says that the 2015 Federal Budget announced today by the Harper Conservatives is a deliberate ‘cold shoulder’ and should not go unnoticed by Canadians.
Day says that when the full analysis is done on this budget, First Nations should expect to see no significant investments from Canada. In fact, he says the Federal investments in this budget pay most attention to lands management on reserves. These investments are aimed at controlling lands where First Nations live.
“In a perfect world, managing First Nations lands where there are real investment opportunities to grow, such management regimes would be great – that simply is not the case here. This government keeps conveniently diverting us away from our rightful treaty-based economies on our traditional lands by forcing us to constantly react to its legislative attacks. Canada should be focusing on treaty partnerships with us, and pay forward on issues like a national resource revenue sharing strategy with First Nations,” says Day.
