Report Alleges Flanagan Part Of Tory Inner Circle

Report Alleges Flanagan Part Of Tory Inner Circle

Tuesday, January 10, 2006 at 14:31

The Liberals are pointing to a report in The Globe and Mail as evidence that Tom Flanagan still has a lot of influence in the Conservative Party.

Flanagan is an academic who has gained a reputation for arguing against the rights and self-government aspirations of Aborginal peoples in Canada.

In fact, the Conservatives spent a great deal of the 2004 campaign insisting he had no influence on the party’s Aboriginal policy.

However, The Globe and Mail alleges Flanagan is still a part of Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s “inner circle”.

Conservative MP Jeremy Harrison disputes the report, saying Flanagan has no part in forming Conservative Party policy.

Harrison also says the Liberals recruited Flanagan to be an expert witness in their challenge of the Manitoba Metis Federation’s land claim in Winnipeg.

Flanagan is known for arguing that the colonization of Aboriginal peoples was inevitable and justifiable, that Aboriginal peoples are incapable of governing themselves and that Aboriginal rights and treaties should be ignored.