kingston candidates call for action on reconciliation
kingston and the islands' new democratic and green candidates call for better treatment for canada's indigenous peoples
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kingston city hall glows orange on on monday, may 31, 2021 on the first of nine nights of illumination in memory of the first 215 indigenous children whose remains were discovered in unmarked graves at a former residential school in kamloops.
(elliot ferguson/the whig-standard/postmedia network)
elliot ferguson
/
the whig-standard
kingston — a pair of kingston and the islands are calling for better government treatment for indigenous people as the federal election campaign enters its final days.
in simultaneous statements released thursday afternoon, green candidate fintan hartnett and daria juudi-hope of the new democratic party called for a renewed approach to reconciliation.
“the truth is, reconciliation has been treated like a checkbox. a land acknowledgment before a meeting. a photo on orange shirt day,” hartnett said. “we haven’t been doing the hard work of actually listening, of returning power, of living up to our responsibilities as settlers on this land. and it’s not good enough anymore. turtle island demands more than words.”
hartnett said the canadian government needs to improve how its approaches indigenous relations.
first nations, inuit, and metis issues have been largely absent from this election, juudi-hope said.
“the liberals and conservatives have sidelined indigenous communities and ignored the need for meaningful action on reconciliation.” daria juüdi-hope said. “that’s probably because their record is shameful. as of today, the estimated infrastructure gap on first nations’ reserves is $349.2 billion, $75.1 billion in inuit communities, and several billion in métis communities and settlements.”
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“i’ve worked as a nurse in several remote indigenous communities, and i’ve seen first hand the shameful neglect of successive liberal and conservative governments, and the gut wrenching impact it has on people,” she said.
hartnett and hope both called for the government to meet the 94 recommendations from the truth and reconciliation commission, return crown land to first nations, adopt indigenous-led initiatives for housing, education, health, and child welfare and require indigenous consent for natural resource projects.
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