GATINEAU, Que. - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is asking for patience on his government's Indigenous rights agenda, saying he believes it is better to get it right rather than try to get things done quickly.
During an appearance at a special gathering of the Assembly of First Nations today, Trudeau was pressed by a chief to commit to tangible action on his government's promises to First Nations and Indigenous peoples and to act before the next election.
Trudeau says he understands the impatience that exists among many First Nations and acknowledges that no group of people in Canada deserves to be cynical about government promises more than Indigenous Canadians.
But changes can be done quickly or they can be done right and those two things are mutually exclusive, Trudeau says.
The prime minister is promoting his rights recognition and implementation framework, which he announced in February, as a key to ensure his promise of a new nation-to-nation approach to Indigenous relations is not repealed by future governments.
He is repeating his commitment to work with individual First Nations and Indigenous Peoples on building better relationships, but stresses that it takes time, because each community has different needs.
