Stephen Harper holds 1st meeting with AFN national Chief Perry Bellegarde – CBC
Chief says he called on PM to withdraw First Nations education bill
Prime Minister Stephen Harper met for the first time Wednesday with the national chief for the Assembly of First Nations Perry Bellegarde, in a meeting the two sides said lasted just under an hour.
Bellegarde was elected as the national chief in December after the post was left vacant following the sudden resignation of Shawn Atleo last May. Atleo quit amid accusations from aboriginal leaders that he’d grown too close to the government given his support for a controversial government aboriginal education bill.
Ghislain Picard, the regional chief for Quebec and Labrador, held the post in the interim from July to December.
