Comments from people attending the Special Chiefs Assembly of the Assembly of First Nations. (note: Most people – everyone but one – insisted on anonymity because they feared repercussions if named. In fairness, I mentioned no names to all.)
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I’m going to give him a neither, only because I don’t think he’s had enough time in the job. Although I think, coming out of the gate, he seems to have left a really bad taste in everyone’s mouth. But maybe, just maybe, he can change. I’m an optimistic individual. I think everybody needs to be given a chance to prove themselves. You know, a couple of months? I don’t think that does it. Unless, of course, you have this huge hidden agenda that you’ve been working on for the past five years!
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It’s hard to beat Chrétien. He was the worst. This guy is toward the bottom. I mean, he’s a robot. I watched him. He reads cue cards. He doesn’t seem to have an independent thought. The bureaucracy seems to write the script for him. Or maybe it’s the Prime Minister’s Office. I don’t know. It’s obvious though that somebody’s doing it because he’s not speaking off the cuff like some ministers did.
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Worst. Is that all I have to say? You want me to go on? Well, just recently he’s shown why. Look at his stand on housing in the First Nations. Him and his staff are unaware of what’s going on in Canada. That’s probably the biggest point right there. Him and his staff are unaware of what’s going on in First Nations country.
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I’ve been around a long time. He’s not the best. He’s not the worst. I think like most of these guys, he gets the job and he has to obey his political masters. In terms of what this current government is doing, their problems are the worst I’ve seen in a long, long time. But we’ll see about him. I don’t hold much hope out for him. Right now, I’m holding my judgment to see how badly he does do. I think he really does have to do what he’s told by Harper and those guys and it’s really not good.
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Basically, what all of the others have said so far. If you go to Indian Affairs in Hull and see the hallway with pictures of all the ministers of Indian Affairs, we call that the “Wall of Shame.”
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I think (Duncan) epitomizes the agenda of the Conservative government. I think we’re preoccupied with the Indian Affairs department, but if you look across all the ministries you find the same Conservative agenda. If you look at that Conservative agenda, you’ll find that they are not the most sympathetic or supportive of First Nations.
