First Nations National Day of Resistance organized in Ottawa and Canada-wide on May 14

May 27, 2014

First Nations National Day of Resistance organized in Ottawa and Canada-wide on May 14

On May 14th, over a thousand people gathered in Ottawa for a Day of National Resistance organized to protest against recent government relations with First Nations people. There were also many companion events organized across the country. The protest was centered on three key issues. The first was the recent and controversial Bill C-33, or First Nation Control of First Nation Education Act. The event also protested against the Harper government's disinclination to launch a national inquiry into the high incidence of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada. And lastly, the event took issue with Bill C-10, or the Contraband Tobacco Act, in which the government aims to criminalize the selling, buying, or trading of tobacco without a federal excise tax stamp. Jode Kechego, who organized the event, talked to CKUT about the implications of these three issues as well as his hopes for the first nations movement, both in its internal relations and in its relations with the government.