First Nations chiefs call for firing of Aboriginal Affairs minister – CANOE
April 03, 2015
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — First Nations chiefs from across northern Alberta say they will no longer communicate with Aboriginal Affairs until the current minister is removed.
Steve Coutoreille, grand chief of Treaty 8 First Nations, says Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt was disrepectful and made offensive statements during a March 20 meeting in Calgary with several First Nations leaders.
Valcourt told the leaders that up to 70% of murdered aboriginal women were killed by aboriginal men, citing an unpublished RCMP report.
The chiefs questioned that statistic because a previous RCMP report on missing and murdered aboriginal women did not indicate perpetrators’ ethnicities.
