The last time an Aboriginal Affairs minister came to Saskatchewan, not too many people were told about it.
When officials tried to whisk John Duncan into a closed door meeting on education with a handful of First Nations leaders in Saskatoon last month, tempers flared as a group of Idle No More activists tried to join the meeting too.
Cooler heads eventually prevailed but Duncan resigned as minister days later over an unrelated matter.
The new Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt was in Saskatoon on Tuesday for a potash mine announcement — and when asked about the sometimes fractured relationship between First Nations groups and the Harper government, he insisted adamantly that the Tories have been up-front with First Nations.
“The government is clear. I think that the Prime Minister, at the Jan. 11 meeting with AFN representatives, has been clear on where Canada wants to go — in full respect of our obligations towards First Nations, Metis and Inuit in Canada.”
After answering the question, one of Valcourt’s handlers ended the press scrum.