Indigenous leaders in Quebec denounced Premier François Legault on Friday for his decision not to meet with them at a two-day economic summit in Montreal.
Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, criticized Legault for speaking with journalists after the speech and for not meeting with Indigenous leaders.
“He didn’t have time to meet with the chiefs, but he did have time to talk to the media,” Picard said at the conference, called the Grand Cercle économique des peoples autochtones et du Québec.
Picard said Legault was in “electoral mode”, adding that the Prime Minister’s refusal to meet in person with the leaders “shows a certain level of arrogance”.
Indigenous leaders said Legault had only planned to speak to the rally, but ultimately agreed to answer three questions at the end of his address to those in attendance.
Réal McKenzie, Chief of the Matimekush-Lac John Innu of Schefferville, Quebec, asked Legault about the royalties owed to Indigenous peoples in exchange for the use of their land. John Martin, Mi’kmaq chief of Gesgapegiag, asked the Prime Minister about First Nations communities excluded from access to natural resources.
Neither leader was satisfied with the Prime Minister’s responses.
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The two-day event, which ended Friday, aimed to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous business people.
In his speech, Legault announced an investment of $ 10 million over five years for First Nations Executive Education, a program based at the HEC Montreal business school.
Earlier Friday, Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière announced a $ 3.3 million investment for a hotel project in Kahnawake, south of Montreal.
The native #leaders denounce the premier of Quebec @francoislegault as “paternalistic”, “arrogant”. #Polqc
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 26, 2021.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of Facebook and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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