More than a dozen First Nations chiefs, band councillors and elders were at Alberta’s legislature Monday, calling on Premier Danielle Smith’s government to stomp out the push for the province to quit Canada.
“Our rights are being minimized,” Confederacy of Treaty 8 First Nations Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi told reporters.
“Our people are being minimized at every level.”
The comments came after First Nations chiefs across the province unanimously called on members of the legislature to hold a non-confidence vote against the government in part for how it has handled the budding separatist movement.
Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi tabled a motion to hold such a vote Monday, but it was promptly shut down by Smith’s majority United Conservative Party government.
“Traitors!” shouted one.
Cold Lake First Nations Chief Kelsey Jacko said after the non-confidence vote that it was an attempt to “hold the premier to account.”
“No matter what we say, (Smith) doesn’t seem to hear us,” Jacko said outside the legislature.
“We have been trying to work with her and (her caucus) for years now. She keeps saying we have a great relationship. But how do you have a great relationship with someone who doesn’t listen?”
Mercredi said he knew the vote wouldn’t pass but that it was important to take a stand.
“We knew what (we were) in for when we came to this legislature,” he said.
“We’ve seen it time and time again — the disrespect that the MLAs have for our people in those rooms when they’re yawning, texting, leaning back on their chairs (and) smiling. It’s very unprofessional.”
Indigenous leaders have been vocally opposed to the separatist movement in Alberta. Multiple First Nations are challenging in court provincial legislation permitting citizen-led petitions that seek referendum votes, such as the ongoing campaign to put separation on a ballot.
While numerous Indigenous leaders were in Edmonton, others travelled to England, where a delegation from the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations is to meet with King Charles.
Grand Chief Joey Pete said in a news release he plans to discuss the separation push with the King and “remind (him) that our relationship is not with provinces or Canada — it is with the Crown.”
Pete was not available for an interview, and Buckingham Palace didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alberta Indigenous Relations Minister Rajan Sawhney called it a “tremendous opportunity” for the delegation to meet with the King.
“First Nation leaders have a right to engage with the Crown,” Sawhney said. “I think it’s totally fine that they’re doing so.”
Sawhney said she was hoping to meet with some of the leaders at the legislature and that she believed she was addressing their concerns about the separation movement.
“I do engage on a regular basis, and I always do affirm that the Constitution is the highest law in the land, and Section 35 rights (which protect treaty rights) are entrenched in the Constitution,” she said.
“There’s no legislation, policy or decision that will ever supersede that.”
Nearly a dozen chiefs, many wearing ceremonial headdresses, watched in the gallery.
Comments