Governor-General agrees to host First Nations chiefs after Spence snubs meeting

National Post Wire Services | Jan 10, 2013 12:21 PM ET | Last Updated: Jan 10, 2013 12:32 PM ET
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THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand Attawapiskat First Nations Chief Theresa Spence leaves Victoria Island as she continues her hunger strike in Ottawa, Wednesday January 9, 2013.

OTTAWA – Governor-General David Johnston has accepted Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s request to host a ceremonial meeting with First Nations leaders at Rideau Hall on Friday following the prime minister’s meeting with First Nations chiefs.

On Wednesday, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence said she would no longer attend her long-sought meeting with the prime minister on Friday because the Governor-General had rejected an invitation.
“I will not be attending Friday’s meeting with the prime minister, as the Governor-General’s attendance is integral when discussing inherent and treaty rights,” Spence said in a statement after a morning of conflicting statements from her staff.

Spence has yet to respond to Johnston’s decision to host the meeting.

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Rick MacWilliam/Edmonton Journal/file   Governor-General David Johnston.

 

The Attawapiskat chief said they wrote to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to send her Canadian representative to Friday’s meeting. She said Johnston officially turned down her request.

“This is a time of crisis and this government of the day is not taking Indigenous Peoples seriously,” added Danny Metatawabin in the statement. “We are sending messages to the Queen. Canada should take notice and act honourably.”

Spence made the statement after a morning of conflicting statements to various media outlets about whether she would be attending Friday’s meeting. This came a day after a Toronto Star reporter said she was kicked off the Victoria Island site where Spence is set up by her supporters and a Global News crew was reportedly escorted off Attawapiskat by band police after trying to interview residents.

Spence reportedly also declared she would not attend the meeting with Harper unless Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was also in attendance. The outgoing Ontario premier would be unavailable to attend because he will be in China. McGuinty is not mentioned in her statement.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick   Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence holds hands with fellow hunger striker Jean Socks as she stands beside supporter Danny Metatawabin during a press conference outside her teepee on Victoria Island in Ottawa. 

 

Documents show that Spence's partner Clayton Kennedy was declared bankrupt before taking over Attawapiskat's finances.

 

Spence’s statement also accused Canada of acting in bad faith by releasing an audit on the state of Attawapiskat.

The audit, released Monday as Spence’s fight to meet Harper seemed to be reaching its fever pitch, showed millions unaccounted for among the $104 million in federal funding from 2005 to 2011.
Some First Nations leaders say that Spence’s fiscal mismanagement is indefensible and it threatens to undermine reserves that keep their books in order.

“I admire what Spence is doing, but it’s tough to defend those numbers,” Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Simon told the Montreal Gazette shortly after a damning audit into Attawapiskat’s finances was released.

“When something like this happens, it kind of rubs off on all of us,” added Ryan Rice, an administrator for the Kahnawake Mohawk Council.

“But the truth is, we never run a deficit and our books are always balanced,” he said.

Robin Rowland/The Canadian Press   Members of the Haisla First Nation march in Kitimat, B.C. as part of a rally in support of the Idle No More movement on Sunday Dec 30, 2012. 

 

As well as voicing support for the hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence, Haisla members spoke of their opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project.

 

With files from Josh Visser, National Post and Postmedia News