At 琉璃神社鈥檚 Canada Day celebration, conservative leader Andrew Scheer said acknowledging Indigenous people on Canada Day is 鈥渙bviously very important,鈥� while maintaining that Canada Day is still, nonetheless, a cause for celebration.

鈥淭his is a day for everyone to celebrate Canada whether we are Indigenous Canadians, whether our families have been here for multiple generations or if we鈥檝e literally just arrived,鈥� said Scheer.

That opinion may not represent many in the Indigenous community and it certainly did not bode well with Okanagan Indian Band Chief Byron Louis.

鈥淎s an individual, I鈥檇 say I can鈥檛 really support that (statement),鈥� said Louis. 鈥�(Sure) it鈥檚 something we take as a statutory holiday, but once you start getting deeper as an Aboriginal person, there are bigger issues on celebrating a day that (oppressed our community). It gets a little cloudy.鈥�

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Tensions between the government and First Nations rose in 2017 when Canada celebrated its sesquicentennial birthday, with the trendy tag line, 鈥淐anada 150.鈥� Indigenous people raised their voices and created an alternative, opposing campaign called, 鈥淩ethink 150: Indigenous Truth鈥�; which encouraged Canadians to consider a different perspective on the extravagant marketing campaign.

Since then, the liberal government, in Louis鈥� perspective, created momentum for the path to reconciliation; something that he isn鈥檛 quite convinced Scheer will carry on if elected prime minister.

READ MORE: RECAP: 10 Canada Day moments and videos you鈥檒l want to see

鈥淭he past conservative government was quite negative to our clan,鈥� said Louis, referring to sweeping budget cuts to First Nations communities across Canada.

鈥淥ur constitution has the treaty rights right in there and our party has supported a lot of the work in terms of reconciliation,鈥� said Scheer, citing former conservative prime minister Stephen Harper鈥檚 鈥渉istoric apology鈥� for residential schools over 10 years ago.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to mean (the apology),鈥� Louis responded, 鈥渋t鈥檚 another thing to apologize because (we were) threatening to sue (the conservative party) and had a pretty good case.鈥�

Although Scheer said 鈥渢here鈥檚 a lot of common ground (and) there are some areas that (they鈥檇) like to move forward on,鈥� Indigenous-government relations will be 鈥渧ery positive鈥� if the conservatives take a majority government.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what he鈥檚 about,鈥� said Louis, recalling a number of incidents where he felt Scheer reported vague answers about Indigenous rights. 鈥淚t does concern us.鈥�

READ MORE: Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer calls out local MP during Canada Day

David.venn@kelownacapnews.com
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