Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was criticized online after posting photos with an Inuk elder accompanied by a caption about a meeting with Algonquin elders on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
On Saturday, Mr. Poilievre posted two photos from an event organized by the Algonquin Nation and the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation.
Marc Miller, former Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, responded to Mr. Poilievre’s message by pointing out that the people in the photos were not Algonquin but Inuit.
In a post on X in English, Miller said that today we are all learning difficult truths and that mistakes can be made. The indigenous people in this photo are Inuit, not Algonquin, and wear traditional Inuit clothing, including the well-known Elder Manitok Thompson.
Federal NDP MP Lori Idlout also confirmed that it was indeed Ms. Thompson in the photos, stating that she is Inukrainian and originally from Nunavut.
In one of the photos, Mr. Poilievre is facing Ms. Thompson near the Centennial Flame and she has her hand on his shoulder.
The second photo, taken outside Parliament, shows Mr Poilievre with Ms Thompson and three others, two of whom are wearing traditional Inuit clothing.
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Another photo from Mr. Poilievre’s X account shows him with others in traditional Inuit clothing.
Photo: X / Photo from Pierre Poilievre’s X account
A spokesman for Mr. Poilievre’s office said the Conservative leader attended an event organized by Algonquin leaders to commemorate the day and spoke with other Indigenous people, including these Inuit women in attendance.
Mr. Poilievre was seen at the event speaking with Claudette Commanda, a well-known elder and residential school survivor from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, an Algonquin community about an hour and a half from Ottawa.
Ms. Thompson highlights her priorities
On Friday evening, Ms Thompson announced her meeting with Mr Poilievre at X and said she was prepared to speak to him in the morning.
“My questions concern Inuit priorities: elder care, health, housing, economic development, hydropower opportunities, the carbon tax impacting the cost of living in Nunavut, food security, homelessness, addiction treatment centers,” she wrote.
After the meeting, she wrote that Mr. Poilievre had taken the time to listen to her. In another message, she said they are praying for Canada and all the people hurt by the years they spent in residential schools.
I prayed to God to bless Peter for taking the time to be with us during the ceremonies.
Mr Poilievre attended the event earlier in the day but left before the official ceremonies began.
Ms. Thompson countered Mr. Miller’s message, saying that implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action could happen more quickly if politicians could act impartially.
“Speaking for myself as an indigenous person, I am not a suffering people, we want businesses, we want to own homes, we want to advance our own independence, we do not want government help,” she wrote. Before contact we were an independent people. We want to be equal. We are not despised.
Day of Truth and Reconciliation
Saturday marked the third year of the federal holiday, a nod to Orange Shirt Day that recognizes the abuse suffered by Inuit, First Nations and Métis people in hundreds of residential schools run by the state and the Catholic Church.
Residential school survivors and Indigenous leaders, including Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Governor General Mary Simon, were among the thousands who gathered on Parliament Hill for the memorial event.