Diabo disappointed with Carney Q&A

Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo wanted to bring the community’s grievances directly to prime minister Mark Carney this week at the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) special chiefs assembly in Ottawa, but these hopes were dashed.

While Diabo said side meetings were productive - even suggesting that the community can expect an announcement soon on Council’s “top political priority” - he left Ottawa with a bad taste in his mouth after feeling yet again silenced by the AFN’s handling, or mishandling, of a rare opportunity to speak directly to the country’s leader.

Each region was given only two minutes to speak when the prime minister was before them, according to Diabo, a situation for which the grand chief blames the AFN as much as he does the federal leader.

Diabo said this was especially frustrating when what was supposed to be a two-hour encounter was reduced to just 45 minutes - half an hour of that dedicated to Carney’s own polished speech.

“In my view, AFN should have taken a strong stance and said you need to show up, don’t talk, and just listen. Instead, they’re blowing smoke up his behind and giving him this platform to do what he’s been doing, to just spew rhetoric and not follow through,” Diabo said.

In the end, only a few regions spoke, and in the case of Quebec, a single First Nation had just two minutes on behalf of the entire province’s contingent.

“It was just for show. It was just a PR stunt,” Diabo said.

Carney has been busy this week trying to shore up his government’s plans after an announcement of a memorandum of understanding with Alberta for a new pipeline last week struggled to find support, particularly with First Nations, even as the agreement suggested opportunities for co-ownership and other economic benefits for Indigenous communities.

The fallout from the announcement included the resignation of Carney’s environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, in protest, necessitating a cabinet shuffle.

Had Diabo gotten the chance to raise his concerns to Carney from the floor of the AFN, he would have confronted him about his frustration with overarching issues, noting Carney’s talk about respect, trust, and the need to work together, which Diabo finds one-sided.

“Flat off the bat, I was going to say, ‘you’re asking for all that, but you’re only here for 45 minutes,’” said Diabo.

“You don’t mind travelling the world trying to come up with deals, with selling our resources, when Canada has no resources. They all belong to First Nations.”

Besides these worries, concerns over Canada’s talk about national security in the Arctic, and border issues, Diabo said he would have told Carney about issues First Nations are having with policing the territory.

Disregarding the will of First Nations is a matter of course for the government, Diabo believes, citing the government’s lack of inclusion of Kahnawake regarding two major projects within its territory, Contrecoeur and Alto High-Speed Rail, that were referred under the One Canadian Economy Act.

The grand chief had also wanted to confront the prime minister about Canada’s actions during the Siege of Kanehsatake.

“I did want to also bring up, any chance I get, is Canada still apologizing for the actions they took in 1990, sending the army against one of their oldest allies, the Haudenosaunee, or the Kanien’kehá:ka people.”

He said the episode was typical of his experience with the Liberals.

“Conservatives, at least they’ll be up front with it, so then you can deal with it according. Liberals, it’s all backdoor stuff up front. They tell you one thing, we’re friends, and then they try to stab you in the back afterwards,” Diabo said.

He recalled Carney’s rhetoric about building Canada and working together.

“I wanted to chime out saying, if he wants to build so much, maybe he should build some more ships, and he can go back to Europe,” Diabo said.

However, despite his ire, he said the MCK is having a good experience working with Rebecca Alty, the Crown-Indigenous Relations minister under Carney, leading to progress on files in relation to her department.

“It always seems whenever I reach out to her, she usually drops a lot of her stuff, and they book us in right away,” he said, noting their meeting went long at the AFN.

MCK chief Ryan Montour stayed at the AFN as Diabo returned to Kahnawake early to be present to oversee issues arising from traffic frustrations.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter