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Premier Wynne calls for collaboration at ONWA assembly

THUNDER BAY -- Acknowledging mistakes in the past, the premier wants to rebuild a more collaborative relationship with First Nations groups.
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Premier Kathleen Wynne addressed the ONWA general assembly on Saturday, calling for the province and First Nations groups to work more together in a more collaborative manner. (Matt Vis, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- Acknowledging mistakes in the past, the premier wants to rebuild a more collaborative relationship with First Nations groups.

Speaking to the Ontario Native Women’s Association’s annual general assembly Saturday morning, Kathleen Wynne talked about how the provincial government and First Nations groups have work to do to create stronger paths towards future prosperity.

“I need your help as we as government try to find a way to partner and have discussions that go beyond the oppositional conflict,” Wynne told the assembly.

“I am keenly aware of how dreadful parts of our history are but we have to use that as fuel to do better. Otherwise we get stuck there and stay there and we are not able to find our shared humanity.”

Among those areas where Wynne said the government needs to do better with First Nations is in economic development, specifically around the duty to consult and natural resource management.

Wynne’s speech to the about 100 delegates on the second day of the assembly at the Valhalla Inn was the first time in ONWA’s 43 years that a premier attended and delivered remarks.

“It’s unprecedented in ONWA’s history to have somebody at that level come and deliver opening remarks,” executive director Erin Corston said.

The theme of this year’s assembly is honouring the path of grandmothers, which was noted by Wynne who is a grandmother herself.

The premier urged delegates to continue pressing forward with their work, calling them the true women of influence. She used her own ascent as the province’s highest elected official as an example, acknowledging that as the first female and openly gay premier she does not fit as a traditional power holder.

Once again she reiterated her call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

“I need your help on murdered and missing Aboriginal women. I need your help there very, very deeply. I need to continue to work with you to call for a national inquiry,” Wynne said. “We must get to the bottom of what’s going on that so many Aboriginal women are disappearing and have been treated so badly.”

One of the areas that needs change is in education, where Wynne cited that 83 per cent of children from “mainstream” schools graduate high school compared to 40 per cent of First Nations students on reserves.

Sharing a story of how residential schools impacted one of her granddaughter’s parents, she said education must not be something that causes First Nations people hardship.

“In some ways I don’t care what the new model is, I just want those kids to do better. I can’t stand that we would lose another generation,” Wynne said.

She was joined by two of her Cabinet ministers, Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Zimmer and Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle, at the assembly.

Wynne and Zimmer were among those who attended and participated in a sunrise ceremony to start the morning.

The premier did not field questions from local media before returning to Toronto.





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