UPDATE
First Nations representatives called out the Manitoba government today, saying that comments from Premier Brian Pallister and cabinet minister Alan Lagimodiere are propaganda and that the government should change its ways or resign.
The Summit of Treaty 5 Sovereign Nations blasted the Progressive Conservative government for what they call a deliberate attempt to distort the history of Indigenous peoples regarding the policy of genocide at residential schools.
Grand Chief Arlen Dumas of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs shouted his anger with Pallister and Lagimodiere in a speech.
"We found 1,505 children murdered in these schools, hidden and buried in the ground, and in the same breath, say ‘residential schools were a good thing. Assimilation was a good thing.’ Who can say that in their right mind?"
Dumas says the comments by Pallister and Lagimodiere suggest nothing is changing.
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First Nations representatives are meeting on the steps of legislature this morning as the backlash continues over comments made by Premier Brian Pallister, and Minister of Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations, Alan Lagimodiere.
The Summit of Treaty 5 Sovereign Nations says it will unveil an action plan directed at the provincial government's policy perspectives on residential schools at 11:00 a.m.
Pallister has been criticized for the comments that he made earlier this month, suggesting that the colonization of Canada was done with good intentions.
Within 10 minutes of being appointed to Minister of Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations, Lagimodiere told reporters that people who ran Indian residential schools believed they were doing the right thing.
The announcement will be attended by Arlen Dumas, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs Organization, and Grand Chief Garrison Settee of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.
