The Beardy’s Okemasis First Nation received a special guest this afternoon when Liberal leadership candidate Marc Garneau showed up.
The Canadian MP and former astronaut is traveling across the country as part of his leadership campaign and says it’s important to visit grass-roots people on-reserve.
Otherwise, Garneau says, the only knowledge leadership candidates in the race will have about First Nations will come from what they hear on the news.
“I have always been a believer that if you are going to understand something you’ve got to go to the source, you’ve got to do your homework,” he says.
Garneau says problems First Nations people face have been brewing for years but the Idle No More movement has really turned up the volume on these issues.
He says the government needs to negotiate with First Nations in good faith in order for meaningful progress to be achieved.