First Nations leaders call Alberta vote decisive

First Nations leaders in Alberta described the province’s vote to remain in Canada as decisive but said work remains, APTN News reported Tuesday.

Trevor Mercredi, Grand Chief of Treaty 8 Sovereign Nations, told APTN there is “a sigh of relief” among First Nations after Monday’s referendum. He called the vote “a big waste of time” and said “separatism here in Alberta is not going to go away.”

Mercredi said the United Conservative Party “have to reevaluate their conditions.” He said First Nations “will be motivating our people to vote at the next provincial election.”

Matthew Coon Come, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said in a statement that “Alberta’s decisive vote to remain in Canada is a historic moment,” according to APTN. Coon Come was involved in the 1995 Quebec referendum.

APTN said about 76 per cent of voters sided with Alberta staying in Canada, citing Elections Alberta. The number of First Nations voters was not immediately known, the outlet reported.

Before the vote, AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said the AFN would re-invite Premier Danielle Smith to the First Nations-First Ministers’ Meeting in Ottawa next week and to a National Day of Ceremony with the Prime Minister on Sunday, Oct. 25, regardless of the result, APTN reported.

This story is developing and is based on a single outlet’s reporting. Canada News Media will update it as other outlets and Elections Alberta publish more. Earlier, we reported on the outlet projections, Premier Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney’s reaction and the AFN’s position on Treaties 6, 7 and 8 before the vote.

Via APTN News: First Nations leaders in Alberta say referendum vote decisive, but Canada has work to do.

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