Youth uses royal platform to push Indigenous issues
- Morgan Esperance | October 16, 2016
A local Indigenous youth recently participated in a reception put on by Heritage Canada with the Prime Minister and the Royal Family during their recent visit to Vancouver, and he used it to bring their attention to Indigenous issues.
Andre Bear was one of 150 youth invited to join a reception called ‘150 and me’.
Bear, who sits on the Assembly of First Nations National Youth Council, was a part of panel discussion involving the Minister of Heritage, Melanie Joly, and three other panelists including an Indigenous British Columbian artist, a female Syrian refugee, and a female Paralympian.
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The panel discussion involved joined questions of the Heritage of Canada and their experiences with Canada. Bear says, “It painted a great, positive picture of Canada.”
When the time came to meet with the Prime Minister, his wife Sophie, and the Royal Family, the youth were moved upstairs from the panel discussion where security and police officers surrounded the area. Separated into groups of ten, Bear’s group met with Sophie Trudeau and Kate Middleton first and they all tried to squeeze in a conversation each with limited time.
Bear got the opportunity to tell Kate Middleton about the First Nations suicide rates, the social inequities, facts of First Nations people in Canada, and how treaty implementation may be a vital solution.
His discussion with Prince William and Trudeau, says Bear.
“He didn’t let go of my hand once when I was talking to him. My exact words were, ‘It would make my life, and it would make the lives of Indigenous people across the country, if the Royal Family specifically acknowledged the treaties of the Indigenous peoples on behalf of the British Crown.’”
Before they departed, Bear got a chance to talk to Trudeau and personally thank him for his compassion to the Indigenous peoples and urged the need for results from many promises made in the past when he was first elected.
“I feel disappointed that I couldn’t do more. I feel like the Indigenous youth in Canada deserve more than myself begging for acknowledgement of our treaties,” says Bear. “On the other hand, I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to speak my mind and have meaningful discussions with them, and so I feel blessed. But I wish I could have done more.”