Canadian premiers call on Harper to build on residential school apology

QUEBEC — Canada's provincial and territorial leaders are calling for a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to deal with native issues.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest said he and his counterparts hope to build on the momentum from Ottawa's residential school apology and address concerns over the future of aboriginal children.

"The apology presented by the prime minister of Canada is extremely powerful," Charest said Wednesday after the Council of the Federation met with native leaders in Quebec City.

"I think a very important number of Canadians have stood up and taken notice. All of a sudden we're conscious that the relationship we have with our native people, with the Inuit and Metis is important, and it needs to be addressed."

Charest, host of the three-day premiers summit, said the 13 provincial and territorial leaders want the meeting with the prime minister to focus on youth issues, such as education.

But he pointed out that everything would be on the table.

"We want a private meeting where we can sit down with Mr. Harper and have a discussion about the way forward," said the Quebec premier, who was flanked by aboriginal leaders for the announcement.

Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine said he hopes Harper will accept the invitation.

"We're now entering the post-apology era and we see the Council of the Federation as an important participant," he said.

"It's important that the federal government be at the table. Their absence, of course, would cause any future work that we do together to fail."

Fontaine said targets on the $5-billion Kelowna Accord are still valid, and he hopes it's part of any discussions with the prime minister.

The Kelowna Accord, which calls for spending on programs to improve aboriginal quality of life, received support from all provinces and territories.

The plan focuses on issues such as health care, education, housing and social services.

A private member's bill put forward by then-prime minister Paul Martin received royal assent last year, but the Conservative government has yet to spend money on the program.

Fontaine said aboriginal groups are still committed to the Kelowna Accord.

"That represents a lot of hard work," he said of the plan. "Eighteen months of planning, it engaged about 1,000 people, and it was focused on closing the gap on the quality of life."

Asked if he would be putting Ottawa in a difficult position by bringing up the Kelowna Accord, Charest said the federal government does not have anything to be embarrassed about.

"The Kelowna Accord is there, it happened. . . it reflects the sum total of efforts of native leaders and ourselves in addressing the issues that are relevant to the communities," he said.

"We're not setting down any ultimatum, we're saying let's sit down and figure out the way forward together."

Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said children must be a key priority.

"It's not the only issue that's facing us, but if we can address the conditions that our children are facing within our communities and our schools, then that will start to help heal our people and bring back our people and our languages," Simon said.

"We are calling on the prime minister and the government of Canada to be our partners in building this new relationship on an urgent basis."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office said he doesn't expect the government to move the Kelowna Accord forward anytime soon.