The Leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick and MLA for Fredericton South, David Coon, issued the following statement in recognition of National Aboriginal Day:

“It is important to recognize that the land on which we live and work in New Brunswick is the traditional, unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq, and Passamaquoddy peoples. More and more, Ministers of government are acknowledging this fact in public speeches and presentations, but the government has yet to begin behaving as though it is true.

“Let this National Aboriginal Day serve as a call to Premier Gallant and his cabinet that we need to move forward on the question of resolving Aboriginal title to land. It is no longer good enough to simply acknowledge that the land is unceded; we need to start behaving as though it is.”