“Your children can be the richest in the world if we unleash these opportunities and that’s why we will be laser-focused on economic growth and opportunity for First Nations.”
His words only elicited scattered applauses from delegates.
Despite cautious support, some First Nation delegates turned their backs to Poilievre.
He was criticized for not mentioning missing and murdered Indigenous women or the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
However, that the Conservative leader was the speaker is not the point at all here. Many AFN delegates would have responded the same way to any party leader who delivered a message focusing on economic empowerment and future-oriented growth. They would also likely jeer anyone calling for moving beyond past grievances.
All politicians must realize the AFN’s limits – or indeed of any Indigenous political organization – when they wish to reach First Nations people with a future focused alternative vision.
The AFN is an important national forum bringing forward concerns from First Nations across the country. It is also, unfortunately, an exclusive chiefs-only organization that fixates on past grievances and promotes niche political issues that advance more affluent Indigenous politicians and their organizational interests.
Their focus on those issues often comes at the expense of a broad-based vision for Indigenous prosperity.
AFN’s chiefs always seem to avoid resolutions focusing on grassroots First Nation concerns or any resolutions making them look bad. Thus, delegates won’t ever introduce resolutions condemning on-reserve corruption and nepotism. The Frontier Centre for Public Policy – through its Aboriginal Governance Index – documented governance problems for years from First Nation people firsthand. AFN chiefs won’t air this dirty laundry.
