It is a shame Harper will not Honour this deal. What a loser.Western premiers started off their annual meeting with a plea for the federal government to maintain the Kelowna Accord.
Late last November, Canada's premiers, territorial leaders, aboriginal leaders and then-prime minister Paul Martin signed off on the $5.1 billion deal designed to improve the lives of aboriginal people.
Manitoba's NDP Premier Gary Doer, host of the meeting in Gimli on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg, told reporters Monday that it would be "morally wrong" to backtrack on Kelowna.
"In my view the Kelowna accord could never deal with 120 years of Canadian history, but at least it was a start."
B.C.'s Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell said he's hopeful the Tory government hasn't abandoned the accord and suggested the provinces should proceed with their commitments under the deal.
"I can tell you, in British Columbia we are committed to it. I believe the federal government will come to the table,'' Campbell said.
"We're coming up to an anniversary, if you want, of the Kelowna accord in November. My hope is that all provincial governments will have laid out their plans for First Nations, Inuit and Metis people about how they are going to close those gaps and bring the federal government in to provide the kind of resources that are necessary over the long term.''
Doer hoped that if the western premiers stand up for the accord, the federal government will be less inclined to go in another direction.
"The will of the public always determines the best way to go,'' he said.
Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said stand taken by the western premiers gives him hope that the Kelowna accord is not dead.
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