Conservative MP Colin Mayes Must Step Down, Apologize to First Nations
January 25, 2007 / Liberal.ca
OTTAWA – Conservative B.C. MP Colin Mayes must step down as Chair of the Parliamentary Aboriginal Affairs committee and apologize for his praise of an e-mail joke that denigrates Canada’s First Nations people, Liberal Indian Affairs Critic Anita Neville said.A CHBC-TV news broadcast of January 23 points out how after Mr. Mayes received a racist joke via e-mail, he replied with “good joke” and dismissed criticism leveled against him that he was racist with “I just laugh because they’re just grasping at straws.”“This joke – with its reference to ‘chief’ and ‘tonto’ and its fractured English – is a classic example of the old negative stereotypes that lead to the denigration of Canada’s First Nations people,” said Ms. Neville. “Today’s society finds it rightly unacceptable for anyone, never mind an elected public official, to speak of our Aboriginal population in this manner.
“It is unfortunate that Mr. Mayes would support and find funny something that is so insulting to First Nations. His attitude indicates that he is not qualified to chair the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. He should resign immediately as chair and apologize to First Nations people. As Chair his responsibility is to ensure that Aboriginals from coast to coast to coast get a fair, unbiased hearing at committee.”
Ms. Neville pointed out how this is not the first time Mr. Mayes has been asked to apologize to a group of Canadians for his skewed views. Back in April, he was forced to publicly apologize for and retract his claim that certain journalists should be thrown in jail.“It’s time for Mr. Mayes to be held accountable for the things he says. He must resign his position as Chair,” said Ms. Neville.
This is also the second time that the Conservatives have shown poor judgment in their appointments to this committee. Mr. Mayes replaced Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott as Chair in May after Mr. Vellacott was forced out for his inappropriate comments about Supreme Court judges’ “God-like powers.”Mr. Vellacott was appointed as Chair even though he faced strong opposition from the First Nations community because of his intervention in the Neil Stonechild case. Mr. Vellacott sided with the police officers convicted in Mr. Stonechild’s death and even started a legal defence for them.
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2 comments:
You need to check the updated Liberal Party website. They amended their original press release to avoid further action. You need to issue a retraction as well.
Thank you for bringing that to my attention; I will make an amendment.
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