Monday, March 29, 2010

First Nations leader scolds city councillors


A sharp rebuke to the city from an area Aboriginal leader.   Chief Wilfred King of the Gull Bay First Nation scolded council for not including the citys' Aboriginal Strategic Plan in the citys' own Strategic Plan.   Chief King says the Aboriginal plan outlines many ways the city can act as a leader, partner, employer and service provider to resident First Nations.   He says council can no longer marginalize First Nations by attempting to, as he puts its, force square pegs into round holes.   King adds that First Nations can provide positive economic input in a variety of ways.   He says natives as a people have so much more to offer than art, drums and symbolic legends.  King believes that the First Nations are expected to assimilate to the norms of current business practices.