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January 11, 2006 Assembly of First Nations National Chief Responds to Conflicting Statements by Conservative MPs Regarding First Ministers Meeting Agreements: Calls on Leader to Clarify Party PositionAssembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine responded today to conflicting and confusing statements by Conservative Party MPs as to whether they will honour agreements made to First Nations at last November’s First Ministers Meeting on Aboriginal Issues. Conservative MP Monte Solberg said on January 9th that the party would not honour any of the agreements, then on January 10th Conservative MP Jim Prentice said the party would honour the Kelowna agreements. At a news conference this morning, MP Solberg stated again that the Conservative Party would not honour the agreements but that he also was not contradicting MP Prentice. “It appears that the Conservative Party cannot agree on who is calling the shots, let alone on their plan for the future,” said National Chief Phil Fontaine. “This is a serious concern for First Nations and all Canadians because there is no indication of a strategic approach to the First Nations agenda. First Nations put forward a comprehensive plan at the First Ministers Meeting, which is now in place. We are prepared to work together with the next federal government, including the provinces and territories to review this plan and continue developing a shared vision that is backed by solid commitments that meet or exceed the $5.1 billion dollar targets over the next five years.” Conservative MP Solberg stated in a radio interview with CJWW in Saskatchewan that: “(The) Kelowna (First Ministers Meeting) Agreement is something that they crafted at the last moment on the back of a napkin on the eve of an election. We're not going to honour that. We will have our own plan that will help natives a lot more than the Liberals.” Conservative MP Jim Prentice stated the next day on APTN that: “…I am the party spokesman on the Kelowna accord and let’s be perfectly clear for the viewers of your network. We are supportive of Kelowna. We are supportive of the targets and objectives that were set at Kelowna.” The National Chief called on Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper to clarify the matter. “All parties came out of the First Ministers Meeting with a plan to close the gap in the quality of life between First Nations and Canadians within ten years,” stated the National Chief, “We must begin now and we must not renege on this historic agreement. If the Conservative Party has a plan of their own, then clearly it was not developed with any input from First Nations and we are concerned that there will be yet another attempt to impose solutions on us. This colonial approach has failed repeatedly with disastrous impacts on our communities. We call on the Conservative leader to clarify the party position, and to make a clear commitment to the agreements reached in Kelowna and to the resources required to start a new path to progress and prosperity.” “We view our agreements from the First Ministers Meeting as agreements with the Government of Canada, not any one party. Why would the Conservatives want to walk away from a historic agreement that has been endorsed by First Nations, Aboriginal leaders and Premiers and Territorial Leaders? The lives of our people, the well-being of our children and the future of this country must be above partisan politics.” The National Chief also took offense to MP Solberg’s characterization of the agreements as being hastily written “on the back of a napkin”. “That statement is an insult to all First Nations who worked diligently for more than a year and a half to craft a comprehensive plan for a new agenda and a new approach,” said the National Chief. “It is also a slight to all First Ministers that worked with us to build consensus and support across party lines to get real movement on our agenda.”
The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada.
Contacts: Don Kelly, AFN Communications Director Ian McLeod, AFN Bilingual Communications Officer Nancy Pine, Communications Advisor, Office of the National Chief |
