APTN National News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper so far has refused to address comments made this week by a member of his party and a Conservative senator he appointed that mocked Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence and First Nations.
MP Royal Galipeau and Sen. Patrick Brazeau teamed up at a Conservative fundraiser in Ottawa Tuesday to attack Spence and her 44-day fast on behalf of First Nations.
After explaining he was lost five pounds because he had the flu Brazeau had this to say.
“I’m sorry. I’m not a comedian, but I look at Miss Spence when she started her hunger strike and now? he said and then someone in the audience yelled out, “she’s fatter.”
The room was full of laughter from the crowd.
The speech was tape recorded by Ottawa reporter Nevil Hunt of Metroland Media and provided to APTN National News.
He then said her community suffered from poor leadership.
“It undermines his office as a senator, but it shows how retrograde this, this senator is,” said Ottawa NDP MP Paul Dewar Friday. “That’s really sleazy, it’s unbecoming and I can’t believe that the government hasn’t called them out yet. I saw Mr. Galipeau sitting on the front bench during Question Period feeling very comfortable today. I don’t think he should feel very comfortable.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said they had no comment.
Galipeau represents the Orleans riding and said he met with Spence in December in her teepee. He mocked her manicured finger nails, saying his wife couldn’t afford them.
When reached by APTN National News Thursday Galipeau refused to comment on his speech but said what was published in the media was a matter of public record.
Neither Harper or Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan would comment on the speeches during Question Period Thursday when pressed by the opposition saying only the federal government continues to provide jobs for Canadians, including First Nations.
Dewar wasn’t the only one calling on Harper to address the comments Friday.
Grand Chief Murray Clearsky wrote a letter to Harper saying PMO’s silence is deafening.
“(It) shows your disdain, disregard and utter ignorance for the concerns of First Nations in Canada,” said Clearsky. “I am demanding that your government give Chief Spence and all First Nations people across Canada an unequivocal apology and exercise the respect for the cultural diversity of this country and hold your appointee and elected official to the higher standard.”
Brazeau went on to put down the Idle No More movement stopping short of suggesting First Nations should assimilate and move on from past grievances.
“Because it would have been easier for me to listen to my leaders, sit back, wait for the government to give me handouts, maybe get on welfare, maybe drink, maybe take drugs,” he said. “I, as an Algonquin person, is living proof that nobody will colonize me. I’m gonna participate, I’m gonna integrate, I’m gonna take advantage of the opportunities just like all of you will.”
Dewar said Brazeau was being borderline racist.
“He was at a fundraiser. So he’s using these frankly, I would call racist kind of epitaphs, in the way he’s describing First Nations,” said Dewar. “It brings us back to those stereotypes that many of us grew up with, that you know, lazy, they don’t want to work, all that. And for him to use that to raise money for Mr. Galipeau is cheap, it’s sleazy and it’s something that should be called on, not just by me and others, but by the prime minister because we, all we’ve had really is silence.”
More to come
Harper’s “token Indian” doesn’t seem to realize that he’s probably the *most* colonized Indigenous person in Canada! What an a**!
This is how this Uncle Tom Tom will get reelected. He isn’t just assimilate, he just thinks he is. Those racist people who now support him will throw him by the way side when he no longer serves them. For now he is their “boy”.
I think Brazeau took too many punches to the head, by Justin Trudeau, what a joke he has become .A resignation is in order, these individuals are suppose to be representatives of this country, this is pitiful. Canada no longer feels like a Democratic Country, thanks to the Conservative Party of Canada.
lol its only an insult to her and those who stand behind her because its the damn truth!!
Hold on. Why is ok for Chief Spence to make comments about the government, then single out the Senator with insults?
Isn’t it obvious? The government is not a person. The government of Canada is a corporation which acts in trust for all Canadians. We all have the democratic right to protest our government. Opposition parties oppose the governing party all the time (remember the Reform Party releasing pigs on Parliament Hill? Everyone of those MPs took the pension after elected to power with Con merger), but it is not proper parliamentary procedure to attack an individual. And frankly, Brazeau is one of the most unaccountable politicians in Ottawa, wasn’t even elected by anyone. It is hypocritical in the extreme for Brazeau to be lecturing to, or speaking about any Canadian when it comes to accountability. Granted, every political party has their share of idiots, but their leadership muzzles them. Harper has proven inept when it comes to muzzling his loose cannons, or even dealing with his own MPs when they cross the line. I have no doubt Harper wishes he never gave Brazeau his government handouts and free ride on the taxpayers dime, but Harper will never admit it publicly. No more than he’ll admit Bruce Carson and Arthur Porter were mistakes.
The community Brazeau is registered to has a lot of well educated people. It is just yet another example of incredibly stupid comments from this individual. One thing I can promise you, Brazeau will not drink the tap water from his reserve, which I believe he never had any connection to in the first place. They have mercury in their water. Mercury is naturally in the soil. Flooding to build hydro dams, clear cutting, mining etc. release the mercury into the water.
Hold on. Why are you letting any of this go on in your backyard? Regardless of what you think, you are a citizen of Canada therefore have an obligation to stop grossly negative behaviors such as finger pointing and name calling as this take place. These people represent you, so that means that everything they say you agree with. I don’t know about you but being an adult makes me sick to my stomach that people in the world, especially people in government positions, abuse their power to make a mockery out of an already dire situation. Not only that, but also to perpetuate the negativity…like why couldn’t they think of ideas to make the situation better instead of fueling the fire? What’s worse is hardworking citizens like me have to work hard while these ding bats get to have a cushy retirement funds, salaries and all the perks, just to talk smack in their private sewing circles, have weekly dick measuring contests and to make laws that enable them to thicken their wallets along with all their business associates …like really what are they doing for the people they represent if they are too busy attending meetings- which now serve as nothing more than amateur comedy hour. Did you know that Brazeau has a poor attendance record in meetings??, he’s really doing good for the people he represents as a Sentor, eh… I feel bad for you,there’s bigger things going on in this country and you don’t even know it…Dance puppet, Dance.
this is just another sad and pathetic attempt to deter from the real issues in the bills that the conservative party is trying to pass. These so called “conservatives” arent so conserative due to the FACT that they are attacking a woman like children on a playground. Conservatives bullied their way into power and they are usign bullying tactics to try stay in power !! COWARDS WHO HIDE BEHIND THEIR PAYROLL ACCOUNTANTS !!!
Oh my god that’s crazy, what are we coming to in this country where people who protest are mocked. That’s harassment from our central government.