A northern Saskatchewan Member of Parliament is calling on Senator Lynn Beyak to resign from the senate.
This comes after Senator Beyak reportedly refused to remove “letters of support” from her website, which many deemed racist in nature. She posted the letters in response to criticism she received from comments earlier in 2017 where she spoke on the “positives” of residential schools.
Late last week, Beyak was removed from the Conservative Senate Caucus by Conservative leader Andrew Scheer after she reportedly refused to take the letters down. On Monday afternoon Beyak told CBC she had never received this request.
Desnethe-Missinipe-Churchill River MP Georgina Jolibois says the entire situation has been disheartening.
“All evidence shows that residential schools had horrific negative impact on Indigenous children across Canada and for her to consistently say that some good came out of it is disheartening,” said Jolibois.
Jolibois joined her fellow NDP MP Charlie Angus in calling for Beyak’s resignation.
“She’s obviously abusing her position as a senator,” said Jolibois.
While the northern Sasktchewan MP says she was glad to see Beyak removed from the Conservative caucus, she does say the Conservatives took too long to act on the situation.
“They wait and wait to see the reaction of Canadians before they take action,” she said while refusing to comment on the current war of words between Beyak and Scheer. “That’s between them,” she said.
Assembly of First Nations Nation Chief Perry Bellegarde called on the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the matter.
(PHOTO: Georgina Jolibois. File Photo)