A group of Idle No More supporters staged a demonstration in Saskatoon City Council chambers.
They stood silent in the back of the room for an hour, with duct tape over their mouths, watching as councillors debated.
Councillor Mairin Loewen noticed them in the back, but wasn’t sure who they were. After learning about their cause, she said she feels city council already has good relationships with First Nations government agencies such as the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN).
“We would benefit as a community if we had more First Nations’ involvement in municipal governance,” said Coun. Loewen.
“We increasingly have a large aboriginal population in the city and lots of off-reserve people living in Saskatoon so we should be making the effort to offer opportunities to those people who come to the city looking for employment of education.”
Event organizer Alex Davenport said all levels of government are guilty of a cultural genocide happening in Canada, and because civic politics is the lowest level of government, he wants them to take note of their presence on Monday and hopefully give them a voice when it comes to issues affecting First Nations communities.
“I don’t think the Idle No More Movement is getting a voice when it comes to things like the XL pipeline, this is a cultural genocide we’re speaking of right now and it’s serious,” said Davenport.
“I don’t even care if it doesn’t affect this generation, it’s going to affect generations down the line and that’s the death of a culture.”
On Twitter: @princealbertnow
