"One in ten Canadians are indigenous. They are one of the largest voting blocs in the country. When they all vote together, they have the power to topple governments. You would have to be a moron to ignore the Indigenous Peoples vote."
In October Stephen Harper was booted from office and amongst the reasons why was the fact that he ignored repeated calls for an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
The new Liberal government has promised an inquiry and is going to deliver. The new interim Conservative leader, Rona Ambrose, is now backpeddling on the issue and saying she will support an inquiry... But why?
Is it because the Conservatives realized that 10% of voters in Canada are indigenous and that 10% can be the difference between winning an election and going home in resounding defeat?
I think so.
Clearly the reversal of the Conservative Party shows that they previously thought that Indigenous vote didn't matter, and they have now realized that it does matter.
So was Stephen Harper a moron for ignoring 10% of voters? Quite possibly? Or was he simply a racist who apparently hates Muslims, indigenous peoples, and anyone else who gets in his way? He apparently is not fond of women, children, and that poor kitten in the one famous photo looks traumatized.
Earlier this year many chiefs were urging their people to vote - not necessarily to vote against Harper, simply that they should vote. Because they knew that the Indigenous vote does matter.
And now it has been proven.
