THUNDER BAY – Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) leaders have sent a curt response to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty by refusing to participate today in the 7th annual First Nations meeting where the Premier meets individually with First Nation groups from across the province over the course of day with each group only given ten minutes to address the Premier.
“We will not meet with the Premier and talk about our issues in the allotted time frame they give us,” said NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy. “We don’t want to be involved with the revolving door process of lining up to meet with the province on their schedule”.
“Our schedules should have been taken into consideration, as we spent the week at our spring chiefs conference”.
Relations between First Nations and the Ontario Government have been cooling rapidly over the past months. First Nations are seeking to be included in the full consultation process with regard to mining issues and economic issues on First Nations lands.