Poilievre promises chiefs more economic control in speech to Assembly of First Nations
Conservative leader made remarks during first in-person speech to AFN since becoming leader
In his first in-person speech to the Assembly of First Nations on Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised chiefs a government led by him would reduce the federal government's role their lives and give them more say over their economic futures.
"I'm not here to run your life. I don't want to run anybody's life," Poilievre said. "I want to run a small government with big citizens free to make their own decisions and live their own lives."
Poilievre said every delegate in the room is a leader who knows their communities better than Ottawa does, and better than he does. He promised to get rid of the "Ottawa knows best" approach that he said has only led to destructive policies that harm First Nations.
"For too long, you have been held back by a broken system that takes power away from you and places it in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa," he said.
The Conservative leader pledged to cut bureaucracy at the federal level so that the revenue from resource extraction on Indigenous lands is used more directly to improve lives in First Nations communities.
Those promises earned applause from those in attendance, rather than the boos he got with his December 2022 video message to the AFN. But not all delegates were pleased with what they heard Thursday.
Several delegates turned their backs to Poilievre while he was speaking from the podium, while others criticized him for the actions of past Conservative governments and for not addressing some important issues.
"In your speech, you did not acknowledge missing, murdered women, you did not acknowledge the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, you did not acknowledge the inherent title rights where my people come from," said delegate Judy Wilson to loud applause.
"You also failed to recognize our residential school survivors, [that] is a real, live issue. If you are working to be the next prime minister of Canada, it tells me you have a lot of education to do on those fronts."
Poilievre did cite in his speech the residential schools apology that Prime Minister Stephen Harper made 16 years ago. He did not mention the remarks he made to an Ottawa radio station on the same day suggesting former residential school students need a stronger work ethic, not more compensation dollars.
"My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance. That's the solution in the long run. More money will not solve it," Poilievre said at the time.
He later apologized for his comments in the House of Commons.
Mary Teegee, chief proxy from the Takla Lake First Nation, challenged Poilievre over the residential schools apology.
"An apology without actions, an apology without money to back it and to make fundamental change, are just hollow words in the wind," Teegee said.
Wilson also called out Poilievre for not telling the AFN how he is going to tackle climate change.
"How can we dismiss the climate crisis? It's real, it's happening," she said. "We have heat domes people are dying from. We have wildfires. That has to be one of your top agendas — not just the economy and business to Canada. You have to address the climate crisis."
In response, Poilievre said that a Conservative government would tackle the issue of climate change through the promotion of new technologies rather than through a carbon tax.
"We need to unleash the production of clean, emissions-free energy that includes nuclear, hydroelectric and other forms. But to do that, we need to speed up the approval process to get these things built," he said.
The scene as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre makes his first in-person speech at the Assembly of First Nations. Some veterans and delegates quietly turn their back as he tries to reset the relationship with the AFN. <a href="https://t.co/IBhqNLWPoX">pic.twitter.com/IBhqNLWPoX</a>
—@CBCOliviaDuane Gastant' Aucoin, a delegate and interim co-chair of the AFN's two-spirit council, was one of the delegates who turned their backs to Poilievre while he spoke.
Aucoin said he did not plan on making a public protest at the Conservative leader's speech, but when he saw others turning their backs it prompted him into action.
"It reminded me how Pierre Poilievre has attacked my community, my two-spirit community, then he hides behind parental rights," Aucoin told CBC News. "I could not just sit there and do nothing."
In an interview with the National Post last year, Poilievre said he stood for "parental rights" and accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of wanting to "impose his radical ideology on other people's kids."
In the same interview, Poilievre said he thought "schools should get back to teaching reading, writing and arithmetic" and reminded his interviewer that he'd told Trudeau to "butt out" of policies introduced in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.
Those policies require parental consent before students under age 16 can change their pronouns and names at school. The AFN condemned the policies last year, saying they do "not align with the principles of self-determination."
"We were here long before there was a Canada," Aucoin said. "And for him to attack us the way he does, and so flagrantly, and so publicly, I had to show some way to him and to others that that's totally unacceptable."
A strained relationship
The Conservative Party has struggled to make inroads with Indigenous communities. Some delegates to the AFN meeting cited the legacy of Prime Minister Harper, who led the Conservative Party for 11 years.
Poilievre attempted to turn that around Thursday by promising delegates "economic reconciliation."
The Conservative leader disagreed with Shoal Lake First Nation Chief Marcel Head's suggestion during the Q&A that the revenues from resource extraction on Indigenous lands be split equally between the federal government, Indigenous people and the companies themselves.
"I don't think the federal government should get a third. I think it should get a lot less than a third," Poilievre said. "If the resources are developed in your land, you should get the money.
"The workers and businesses that invest should get the money. We don't need the money to go to Ottawa where it will be squandered on bureaucracy."
During his speech, Poilievre said that while the federal government can help Indigenous economies by ensuring fair profit sharing on resource projects, corporations and businesses also need to do their part.
"Before these CEOs think to fly in foreign workers to fill job opportunities, they should first and foremost be offering those jobs to Indigenous youth," he said to applause from the room.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also addressed the AFN on Thursday. He reminded the audience of the Conservative leader's radio comments 16 years ago and criticized his promise to boost resource revenues for Indigenous peoples.
"Economic reconciliation doesn't mean respecting your fundamental rights," Singh said. "What he really wants is for his rich developer buddies to get richer off of your resources … and I think that's wrong."
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With files from The Canadian Press