Treaty 8 grand chief joins call for Kenney to fire Bunner

EDMONTON Treaty 8 Grand Chief Arthur Noskey is the latest Indigenous leader in Alberta to call for Premier Jason Kenney to fire his speech writer.

Noskey and Adam North Peigan, president of the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta, both said Monday that Kenney should fire Paul Bunner over articles Bunner wrote, including a 2013 piece where he calls Canada’s residential school system a “bogus genocide.”

“Mr. Bunner, as a speech writer for the premier of Alberta, occupies a key role of this government,” Noskey said.

“If Premier Kenney chooses to continue this individual’s employment, it’s a … blatant demonstration this government’s views are much the same as his speech writer and (it) has no interest in building trust and working collaboratively with Indigenous communities. Honouring the treaty relationship must be a priority of the Alberta government. Actions speak louder than words.”

First Nations leaders from Treaty 6, the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Alberta Regional Chief for the Assembly of First Nations have also called for Bunner to be fired.

Paul Bunner’s attitude is what reinforces the attitude of privilege towards the First Peoples of this land.

Kenney has said that he fundamentally disagrees with the parts of the 2013 article that he has read but has so far not fired Bunner.

Peigan said Bunner should be removed effective immediately.

“Paul Bunner’s attitude is what reinforces the attitude of privilege towards the First Peoples of this land we now call Canada to the point of denying the atrocities at this assimilation,” he said.

The NDP has uncovered additional articles written by Bunner, including one where he claims the gay rights lobby bullies politicians and another where he quotes someone else using an anti-black slur.

Kenney’s office has so far insisted that the articles in question are old and that Bunner’s positions have evolved.

When asked Monday in question period about the latest calls to fire Bunner, Minister of Indigenous Relations Rick Wilson said he and Bunner met with Grand Chief Willie Littlechild and agreed that they “can walk through this journey of reconciliation together.”

Wilson said the government is working toward reconciliation.

“Rather than cancelling people, choosing the path of honest dialogue can actually build trust,” he said.