Beyak is still a member of the Senate’s defence, transport and agriculture committees. When asked about her future on those committees, a spokesperson for Smith said he had no comment.<\/p>\n
Beyak\u00a0recently said, in an open letter on her website, that First Nations should\u00a0trade in their status cards<\/a> and become Canadian citizens, while calling on them to promote their culture “on their own dime, on their own time.”<\/p>\n The northwestern Ontario senator has also questioned the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which studied the residential school system, and defended “well-intentioned” teachers at the institutions. She has said she wants compensation for survivors, something the former Harper government instituted in 2007.<\/p>\n Amid Trans Mountain uncertainty, pro-pipeline Indigenous peoples make a pitch for development<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde said Wednesday\u00a0Beyak\u00a0should be shown the door.<\/p>\n “In this era of reconciliation there is no place for the kind of outdated and uninformed thinking expressed by Sen. Lynn Beyak,” Bellegarde said in a statement, his first since Beyak’s most recent comments emerged.<\/p>\n “Many have reached out to educate her and help her understand our shared history yet she refuses to acknowledge reality.<\/p>\n Bellegarde said Beyak’s\u00a0comments were hurtful and disgraceful.<\/p>\n Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde says Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer should remove Lynn Beyak from caucus.<\/p>\n “She should resign, and if she won’t resign she should be expelled from caucus by the Conservative leader to demonstrate his party’s commitment to truth and reconciliation. There is no room for this kind of thinking in today’s Canada.”<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Crown-Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett called for Scheer to remove Beyak from his caucus.<\/p>\n Big city mayors, Indigenous leaders, senators, and other federal cabinet ministers (M\u00e9lanie Joly and Patty Hajdu), have also called on Beyak to either resign from the Red Chamber or be removed from committee work.<\/p>\n When asked Monday<\/a> how he planned to appeal to Indigenous voters if she remains a member of his caucus, Scheer said Conservative values appeal to all Canadians regardless of ethnicity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Completely agree. https:\/\/t.co\/Wn28aAzPgY<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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