Politics

Perry Bellegarde on the absence of Aboriginal issues in #elxn42

In this audio excerpt from Everything is Political, the head of the AFN talks about what we’re not talking about during this election campaign

AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 following the National Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (Adrian Wyld/CP)

AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 following the National Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (Adrian Wyld/CP)

Maclean’s contributor and radio host Evan Solomon spoke with AFN chief Perry Bellegarde about the absence of Aboriginal issues on the 2015 federal election campaign.

“Why are we not talking about it?” Solomon asked.

Bellegarde’s reply: “Society still views First Nations in a very negative light in this country. You talk about First Nations issues and people don’t look at it in a very positive light. They still have racial and negative stereotypes about First Nations people — that they’re dumb, stupid, lazy, drunk, on welfare, and a burden to society. That’s the attitude. And that’s what persists right across Canada. That’s what has to be addressed.’

Listen to the interview below. Read it here.

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