NEWS RELEASE

Tuesday March 28, 2017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NAN, GCT#3 CALL FOR RESIGNATION OF

SENATOR LYNN BEYAK
THUNDER BAY, ON: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler and Grand
Council Treaty #3 (GCT#3) Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh are calling for the resignation of
the Hon. Lynn Beyak as a member of the Senate of Canada following repeated statements by
the Senator in defense of the Indian Residential School system.

Senator Beyaks repeated comments defending the Indian Residential School system are a
national insult and unacceptable for a member of the Senate of Canada. Her callous dismissal
of the horrors of the Residential School experience is unbefitting a member of the Senate,
and today we join the growing calls for her immediate resignation, said NAN Grand Chief
Alvin Fiddler. Her misguided statements, including comparisons of her suffering to those
who were forced to attend Residential Schools, are an insult to Survivors and all the children
who were lost. This makes a mockery of the Government of Canadas efforts to move toward
reconciliation.

During debate on March 7, 2017, the Senator stated that an abundance of good has come
from the Residential School system, and that the schools were well-intentioned and
mistakes should not overshadow good things that happened.

Since then, the Senator has rebuked pleas for her to learn more about the horrors of
Residential Schools, claiming to have suffered with those who attended the schools, and
purporting shining examples from sea to sea of people who owe their lives to the schools.

We find the comments made by Senator Lynn Beyak to be offensive and ignorant of the facts
in history that our people still struggle with today. It also comes at the expense of an open
dialogue with Canadians and First Nations. We are building partnerships with mainstream
Canadians based on inclusion, equitable partnerships and education. This clearly shows a
lack of sensitivity by the Senator with respect to the Indian Residential School experience
and are requesting that she resign her position immediately, said GCT#3 Ogichidaa Francis
Kavanaugh.

As expressed in the Government of Canadas historic apology on June 11, 2008, the primary
objectives of the Indian Residential School system were to remove and isolate children from
the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the
dominant culture: to kill the Indian in the child.
The apology by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who appointed Senator Beyak in 2013,
acknowledged that mistakes were not only made at Residential Schools; the entire system,
and the rationale behind it, was a mistake: There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that
inspired the Indian Residential Schools system to ever prevail again.

NAN and GCT#3 are especially dismayed that a member of the Senate hailing from
northwestern Ontario, an area spanning NAN and GCT#3 territory with one of the highest
concentrations of Residential Schools in Canada, appears to be oblivious to the devastating
legacy of these institutions, and the intergeneration effects they continue to have in First
Nation communities.

The Government of Canada has recognized that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has
caused great harm, and has no place in our country. NAN and GCT#3 are deeply saddened
that a member of the Senate either disagrees with this or cannot accept it.

For more information please contact:

Gary Allen, Executive Director Grand Council Treaty #3, 1-807-548-4214 of executive.director@treaty3.ca

Michael Heintzman, Director of Communications Nishnawbe Aski Nation (807) 625-4965 or cell (807) 621-2790
or by email mheintzman@nan.on.ca