The MPP for Kiiwetinoong says he will remain seated in the Ontario legislature during the Canadian anthem and God Save the Queen.
Sol Mamakwa says he won’t stand until First Nations people are treated equitably and their children have access to education, clean water and safe housing.
Mamakwa has refused to stand since Queen’s Park reopened.
He says Indigenous people need fair access to the job market and the same right to health care that other Canadians have.
The NDP Critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation stresses the provincial and federal governments must honour Treaty rights and not treat them like second class citizens.
Here is the full statement from Sol Mamakwa:
“I was elected as an MPP for the riding of Kiiwetinoong and I serve all who live there. However, as a First Nations person who honours our ancestors and our people, I will not stand for either the anthem or God Save The Queen.
Until our people are treated equitably, until our children have access to education, clean water and safe housing, until we have fair access to the job market, until we have the same right to health care that all other Canadians have, I will not stand.
I will stand only when Ontario and Canada honour the Treaties they signed.
I will stand only when our children receive the same basic human rights as everyone else in this province.
My ancestors and yours came together to create a society of fairness, one of bounty and hope that would benefit all who live on Turtle Island.
My ancestors did not give away our land – Canada took it.
We did not ask to be put in residential school – Canada put us there.
We did not ask to be treated like second class citizens on land we have been living on for thousands of years.
To the Ontario and Canadian governments, if you want to build a just and better society and country, you must honour Treaty rights; they are the laws of the land.
When we stand together, only then will I stand.”
