Comments come after Alberta refused to meet with UN special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples
CBC News: Wilton Littlechild, former Treaty 6 grand chief and former commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, called for an Alberta-specific council on reconciliation during a speech at the United Nations on Wednesday.
Littlechild was speaking to the UN’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. In his statement, he highlighted Pope Francis’s apology to people who suffered in residential schools and his repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery as examples of healing and reconciliation.
He also referenced the recent visit to Canada of the UN’s special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. José Francisco Calí Tzay spent 10 days in March meeting with Indigenous leaders, human rights groups and government officials in Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.
“I regret that the government of Alberta declined my invitation to meet, especially considering the concerning situation of Indigenous Peoples in the province,” Calí Tzay wrote in his end of mission statement. “It’s very disappointing that Alberta would do this because it had the highest number of Indian residential schools in Canada,” Littlechild said at the UN.
In an emailed statement to CBC News, Alberta’s Indigenous Relations Minister Rick Wilson said he “respectfully declined a meeting with the United Nations special rapporteur, as the federal government is best-suited to discuss its record on Indigenous Peoples.”
Regarding Littlechild’s request for an Alberta council on reconciliation, Wilson said in the statement he is open to any proposals that promote reconciliation, and added the province has promised $9 million over the next three years to support Indigenous-led reconciliation initiatives.
Calí Tzay met with federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller during the visit.
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The province’s relationship with Indigenous leadership has been fraught, especially following the introduction of the Alberta Sovereignty Act last year, which proponents said will limit perceived federal incursions into provincial jurisdiction. Chiefs from Treaties 6, 7 and 8 spoke out against the bill in November and expressed concerns about the act’s interference in Crown and Indigenous relations.
“Premier Smith wants to do a sovereignty act. Well, we certainly didn’t enter into a treaty with her,” Regena Crowchild, Tsuut’ina Nation Treaty 7 adviser, said at the time. The act passed a month later, in December 2022.
Littlechild said the passage of the act “signals to us we have a lot more work to do” on reconciliation in the province.