Prime Minister Stephen Harper met for the first time Wednesday with the national chief for the Assembly of First Nations Perry Bellegarde.
Bellegarde was elected as the national chief in December after the post was left vacant following the sudden resignation of Shawn Atleo last May. Atleo quit amid accusations from aboriginal leaders that he’d grown too close to the government given his support for the aboriginal education bill.
Ghislain Picard, the regional chief for Quebec and Labrador, held the post in the interim from July to December.
In a letter sent to the AFN executive following Wednesday’s meeting, Bellegarde said he raised the issue of education and “pressed” Harper to withdraw the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act.
“The prime minister stated that Bill C-33 will not move forward,” Bellegarde said in his letter to national chiefs.
“We agreed that there is much work to do to achieve the changes needed to substantively improve First Nations well-being.”
The prime minister’s chief spokesman, Jason MacDonald, said the tête-à-tête was “a very positive first meeting.”
MacDonald said the two discussed “a wide range of topics” during a meeting that lasted just under an hour.
