Quebec's First Nations leaders say they're tired of being ignored in the federal election campaign, so they've organized a day of action to draw attention to native issues.
After a recent conversation with Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL), Kahnawake Grand Chief Joe Norton says they decided to make the federal parties take notice.
“We're irrelevant as far as they’re concerned. So I said to him, ‘Well, we've got to make ourselves relevant them.’ How do we do it? Get up and do the only thing that we can do that could be effective, and that is to demonstrate,” Norton said.
Next week's demonstration begins in Cabot Square and the First Nations' leaders are hoping to have a good crowd.
Decent housing and education are high on the list of things the groups wish the government would address. But Quebec’s native peoples say those issues or any that are relevant to their communities aren't part of any party's agenda.
“The parties seeking to be the government on Oct.19 have really said little about how they intend to renew the relationship with First Nations,” said Picard.
Norton says relations with Ottawa have deteriorated over the last decade and Pichard echoed those sentiments.
“The relationship is broken. It needs to be repaired. It needs to be restored,” he said.
Traditionally, voter turn-out in native communities is between 40 and 45 per cent. You won't find a campaign sign anywhere in Kahnawake – First Nations typically prefer to deal with Ottawa on a government-to-government basis.
But to do that the native groups say they have to first attract Ottawa’s attention. Norton says the demonstration is about “firing a warning shot,” so to speak, to make sure they aren’t forgotten.
