Declaring National Aboriginal Day — now National Indigenous Peoples Day — a statutory holiday does not have the full support of Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall.
“Not necessarily,” the province’s premier replied Wednesday when asked by media if he backs the idea of declaring the day a holiday.
“I think National Aboriginal Day should be an opportunity to focus on how can we improve things in this country. I don’t necessarily think it’s served by having it a day off,” he said.
Saskatchewan NDP MP Georgina Jolibois tabled legislation earlier this month calling for National Aboriginal Day to be a statutory holiday.
Wall said his position doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to see the day celebrated.
“I mean there’s a lot of very compelling reasons to celebrate National Aboriginal Day. I think it’s an opportunity for us in our province to talk about progress that’s being made, credit First Nations for it, credit aboriginal groups for the fact that we have seen over the last number of years some improvement in terms of aboriginal employment numbers,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday morning National Aboriginal Day will be renamed National Indigenous Peoples Day going forward.
