Steve Lambert
Premier of Manitoba Brian Pallister speaks at a news conference after the 2021 budget was delivered at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski July 18, 2021 - 3:36 PM
WINNIPEG - Two Indigenous men have quit their positions on Manitoba economic development boards in the wake of controversial remarks by Premier Brian Pallister and a cabinet minister.
The resignations of Jamie Wilson and Darrell Brown form the latest chapter in the growing fallout from Pallister s comments on Canadian history, which have drawn widespread criticism. As a former treaty commissioner for Manitoba and member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, I cannot support this government s rewriting of Canadian history, Wilson wrote in a text message Sunday.
Manitoba government is rewriting history, former senior bureaucrat says
by Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
Posted Jul 18, 2021 6:36 pm EDT
Last Updated Jul 18, 2021 at 6:41 pm EDT
WINNIPEG Two Indigenous men have quit their positions on Manitoba economic development boards in the wake of controversial remarks by Premier Brian Pallister and a cabinet minister.
The resignations of Jamie Wilson and Darrell Brown form the latest chapter in the growing fallout from Pallister’s comments on Canadian history, which have drawn widespread criticism.
“”As a former treaty commissioner for Manitoba and member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, I cannot support this government’s rewriting of Canadian history,” Wilson wrote in a text message Sunday.
Wilson was board chair of a similar agency in the north, the Communities Economic Development Fund.
Wilson previously served as a deputy minister in two departments under the Progressive Conservative government and was the treaty commissioner for Manitoba, heading up a body set up by the federal government and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.
A spokesperson for the premier’s office could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday.
The resignations came roughly one week after Pallister criticized protesters who had toppled statues of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria on the legislature grounds. Pallister said people who came to Canada, both before and after it was a country, came not to destroy anything but to build communities, churches and businesses.
The resignations came roughly one week after Pallister criticized protesters who had toppled statues of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria on the legislature grounds. Pallister said people who came to Canada, both before and after it was a country, came not to destroy anything but to build communities, churches and businesses.
His comments were criticized by Indigenous leaders as minimizing the harmful effects of colonialism. Pallister defended his comments, saying he never mentioned colonialism and instead meant to get across the idea that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people often worked together to build Canada.
Two days later, Indigenous and Northern Relations Minister Eileen Clarke quit her cabinet post. She said many Manitobans are disappointed with their representatives, and added that she and other cabinet ministers had not been listened to.
Manitoba government is rewriting history, former senior bureaucrat says - Canada News castanet.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from castanet.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.