Wawa-news.com You can't hear the 'big picture'!
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples has lost faith in Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller after years of ignoring and excluding hundreds of thousands of off-Reserve, non-status, Metis, and Southern Labrador Inuit Indigenous people. The Congress believes these acts and policies can only be remedied with the removal of Marc Miller, with hopes of a replacement with compassion and a clear understanding of the Indigenous reality in Canada.
“CAP has spent 52 years advocating for our People and fighting assimilation, yet the Trudeau government is dead set on ignoring the needs of urban and rural Indigenous people – a policy of partisanship and division,” says CAP National Chief Elmer St. Pierre. “The government’s own statistics clearly show the majority of Indigenous people now live off-Reserve and in urban and rural areas. Despite their growing needs, Indigenous people living in cities and rural areas struggle to find the same support as those living on-Reserve or in northern settlements.”
In recent months, Marc Miller has decided to exclude CAP and urban Indigenous voices from the proposed National Reconciliation Council and Canada’s UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) Action Plan. And furthermore, on National Indigenous Peoples Day when unveiling the action plan and intentionally excluding CAP, Minister Miller decided to credit another National Indigenous Organization for the historic CAP/Daniels Case that affirmed the rights of off-Reserve Indigenous Peoples and the federal government’s responsibility.
“Those comments were not just an insult to former CAP leader Harry Daniels who spearheaded the 17-year-long legal battle, but an insult to the hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Peoples who still lack the support of the federal government,” says CAP National Vice-Chief Kim Beaudin. “Whether the comment was an insult or lack of knowledge, the Minister has consistently displayed his intentions to dismiss our People and divide our communities based on where they live. He must step down and allow for new leadership that will approach our issues in an inclusive way. Life is not getting better for our people and serious change is needed.
CAP is profoundly disappointed with, and concerned about Canada’s current Crown Indigenous Relations Minister, and hopes the government will recognize its missteps and faults in recognizing our People. Reconciliation must start with inclusion – not exclusion.
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is the national voice representing the interests of Métis, status and non-status Indians, and Southern Inuit Indigenous People living off-reserve. Today, over 70% of Indigenous people live off-reserve.
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