QUEEN'S PARK — A Northwestern Ontario MPP plans to remain in his seat whenever O Canada and God Save the Queen are played in the provincial legislature.
Sol Mamakwa, the NDP member for Kiiwetinoong, says it's to honour his ancestors who signed a treaty with the Crown which he believes Ontario and Canada have failed to live up to.
In an interview Wednesday, Mamakwa also described it as "a teaching moment."
He said that since he was elected to the legislature in 2018, he's sought action from government on issues such as the over-representation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system, drinking water, and gaps in education for First Nations, but the response is never adequate.
"If there's a crisis, they help a little but don't address the root causes which is chronic underfunding of programs," Mamakwa said.
The New Democrat MPP is from Kingfisher Lake First Nation in Treaty 9 territory.
"I will stand up when treaties are honoured by both levels of government," he said. "Ontario is a signatory to the treaty...and it's not being honoured."
Mamakwa said by sitting for the anthem he means no disrespect to "the government system that's here, even though it's colonial."
He added that he knows MPPs on the government side of the aisle are "good people," but they never speak about Indigenous issues.
"We cannot continue for Ontario to treat us like second-class citizens on the land we've been living on for thousands of years. I know they won't invest anything on reserves, but they want the resources," Mamakwa charged.
He's not going after the general public, he emphasized, but rather the governments which he said perpetuate colonialism and the crises in First Nations.
Mamakwa said it's important to start discussions about self-determination, because incremental change is costing the lives of Indigenous people.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath, in a tweet this week, thanked him for his "bravery" in his "fight for fairness and justice."
