Quebec premier rejects suggestion for statutory holiday to honour Indigenous Peoples

MONTREAL -- Quebec isn't interested in adding a statutory holiday in the province to recognize Indigenous Peoples.

Premier François Legault told reporters Monday the province has enough statutory holidays and the government isn't interested in adding another, no matter the reason.

The federal government recently adopted Bill C-5, which designates Sept. 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation; it will apply to federally regulated workers.

Legault says the province marked National Indigenous Peoples Day and there is still a lot of work to do on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in the province.

He notes that his government has brought back a roundtable with the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador and says a first meeting was held last week.

Legault says he hopes Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière will be able to eventually reach agreements with each of the 11 nations in the province.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2021.

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  Indigenous dancers perform at a rally in support of Joyce Echaquan in Trois-Rivieres, Que., Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw mother of seven, filmed herself on Facebook Live as a nurse and an orderly were heard making derogatory comments toward her shortly before she died last September at a hospital northeast of Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz