NORTH VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canada’s largest aboriginal group won’t participate in the federal government’s proposed overhaul of the Indian Act, saying chiefs will instead come up with their own ideas for change.
“For us, we want our own process,” Chief Matthew Coon Come, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, said Thursday.
“We have stated our views but the minister is not listening. We will not go away.”
Chiefs from across Canada held a huddle all week to hammer out their response after Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault announced he wanted summer-long consultations aimed at changes.
Nault said last week he wants to introduce a bill in the fall sitting of Parliament.
But Coon Come said Nault’s proposals are “about perpetuating the colonial mentality against First Nations.”
