AFN wants first ministers meeting on aboriginal rights in the Constitution
OTTAWA — Canada must change the Constitution to ensure indigenous leaders can be in the room when the prime minister sits down to do serious business with the provinces and territories, the head of the Assembly of First Nations said Friday.
“Until that Constitution is fixed, we will continue to be excluded,” said National Chief Perry Bellegarde.
Indigenous leaders are frustrated at being invited to Friday’s meeting with the premiers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, but excluded from the afternoon session on climate change.
They argue that Aboriginal Peoples and their traditional way of life suffer some of the worst effects of climate change, despite having next to nothing to do with the cause, and they should be fully involved in decisions on a solution.