ENCORE PRESENTATION

***With the Akhameyimok Podcast on summer hiatus and a federal election now underway, we are re-running National Chief Bellegarde's  best interviews from the past year with leaders and senior members of the main federal political parties to help provide a sense of where they stand on issues important to First Nations and Indigenous people. ****

***This interview with Erin O'Toole was first posted on August 19/2020, just before he won the leadership of federal Conservative Party***

Erin O'Toole is one of the front-runners to become the next federal Conservative Party leader in a vote that takes place Friday, August 21st 2020. In this, his first interview with the Ahkameyimok Podcast, O'Toole lays out his vision for working with First Nations if he were to become leader and Prime Minister. In this interesting and wide ranging interview, National Chief Perry Bellegarde gets O'Toole's views on reconciliation, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, cooperation in resource development and management, systemic racism, policing and more.

Please note: Peter MacKay and Leslyn Lewis, the other main Conservative leadership candidates, were also invited onto the podcast but declined due to their campaign schedules.

Erin O’Toole is the Member of Parliament for the southern Ontario riding of Durham, just to the east of Toronto. He was first elected to Parliament in 2012 and served as Minister of Veterans Affairs in the Harper Government. He is a veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force and a graduate of the Royal Military College. He also has a law degree from Dalhousie University. Before moving into politics he practiced corporate law in Toronto.

A special thanks goes out to the Red Dog Singers of Treaty 4 territory in Saskatchewan for providing the theme music for this podcast.

The Ahkameyimok Podcast is produced in Ottawa by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.