Prime Minister Mark Carney says there should be a public apology for a past spying program that targeted hundreds of Indigenous people and groups with federal government support.
Carney called the actions “reprehensible” and said they should never have happened.
The Assembly of First Nations is asking for an apology from Carney, the public safety minister, and the RCMP commissioner. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said Indigenous people are not a threat and should be treated as partners in Canada.
The AFN is also calling for a full investigation into decades of surveillance by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which monitored First Nations, Inuit, and Métis leaders and groups starting in the 1960s.
Thousands of newly released documents show the RCMP spied on Indigenous organizations, used informants, and tried to disrupt their work. In the 1970s, the government approved wiretaps on Indigenous leaders.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme has expressed regret and says he plans to meet with Indigenous leaders.
The spying program was later taken over by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which replaced the RCMP’s intelligence unit in 1984.
Indigenous leaders say it is important to face this history and make changes so it never happens again.
