What Indigenous leaders told King Charles in Ottawa
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Chief Billy Joel Tuccaro, of Mikisew Cree First Nation in Northern Alberta, was alarmed about what he heard in the speech. He said it's been a rocky relationship with the Crown since his nation signed Treaty 8 in 1899.
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The fast-tracking of projects is another example of 'lip service' to the treaty, he told the Ottawa Citizen.
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Tuccaro's First Nation sits downstream from the Alberta oil sands. In a press conference in Ottawa alongside chiefs from across the western provinces on May 27, Tuccaro said that his community has suffered through high cancer rates due to pollution coming from the oil sands.
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Last year, the federal government announced a $12-million health study into the accumulation of toxins in the region, something the local community has been requesting for years, Tuccaro said.
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'I can say this among the chiefs we all have different agendas, but one thing we have in common is the treaty, and we must fight for that for the future generations to come,' he said at the press conference.
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Tuccaro also spoke about his work fighting Alberta separatism, which he said poses a risk to the treaty relationship between First Nations and Canada.
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'They tried this in Quebec and it was the First Nations people that squashed this, and once again, it will be the First Nations people [that] squash this separatist movement,' he said.
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Chief David Monias, of Pimicikamak Okimawin in Manitoba, who visited Ottawa during wildfire evacuations in his home community, spoke about the importance of including First Nations in decision making and resource development.
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'We were sovereign. We still are sovereign. And you have to respect that we enter these treaties to make sure that we share land, we share resources, and therefore Canada, who's the colonial state, must share revenue as well,' he said.
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