Indigenous leaders in Quebec on Friday denounced Prime Minister François Legault for his decision not to meet with them during a two-day economic summit in Montreal.
Ghislain Picard, head of the Quebec-Labrador Assembly of First Nations, criticized Legault for speaking to reporters after the speech and for not meeting with indigenous leaders.
“He didn’t have time to meet with the bosses, but he did have time to talk to the media,” Picard said at the conference, dubbed the Great Economic Circle of Indigenous Peoples and Quebec.
Picard said Legault was in “electoral mode”, adding that the prime minister’s refusal to meet in person with the bosses “shows a certain level of arrogance.”
Indigenous leaders said Legault had only planned to comment at the meeting, but ultimately agreed to answer three questions at the end of his speech from the attendees.
Réal McKenzie, head of Innu Matimekush-Lac John of Schefferville, Que., Asked Legault about royalties owed to indigenous peoples in exchange for the use of their lands. John Martin, head of the Gesgapegiag Micmacs, asked the Prime Minister about First Nations communities that are excluded from access to natural resources.
Neither chief said they were satisfied with the prime minister’s responses.
What people are reading
The two-day event, which concluded on Friday, aimed to bring together indigenous and non-indigenous entrepreneurs.
During his speech, Legault announced a $ 10 million investment over five years for First Nations Executive Education, a program based on the HEC Montréal business school.
Earlier Friday, Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière announced a $ 3.3 million investment for a hotel project in Kahnawake, south of Montreal.
# Indigenous leaders denounce the Prime Minister of Quebec @francoislegault as ‘paternalistic’, ‘arrogant’. #Polqc
This Canadian Press report was first published on November 26, 2021.
This story was produced with financial assistance from Facebook and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com