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Harper government uses rhetoric to ‘alarm the public’ against Indigenous rights, Bellegarde tells UN

APTN National News
Bellegarde said Ottawa’s favorite tactic is to use the word “veto” when describing why it continues to oppose the full implementation of the declaration in Canada. The Harper government has claimed, in its argument against supporting Saganash’s bill, that the declaration gives First Nations veto power over legislation and development impacting its rights and territories.
“The term veto is not used in the UN Declaration. Veto implies an absolute right or power to reject a law or development that concerns Indigenous peoples, regardless of the facts and law in any given situation,” said Bellegarde. “Canada then builds on this imagined frenzy of absolute power and declares: ‘It would be irresponsible to give any one group in Canada a veto.’”
If only Canada's opposition party leaders were as tough on the Canadian government as Chief Perry Bellegarde. He's been doing yeoman's work since being elected, and mainly he's been doing the job he was elected to do, which is hold Canada accountable.
The major newspapers continue to bury him, but Canada will soon begin to hear what he's saying, because what he's been speaking is nothing less than the truth.
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