Order of Canada appointee says he’s ‘disappointed,’ ‘disgusted’ with Senator Lynn Beyak comments – CBC

Garnet Angeconeb is a residential school survivor, has spent years advocating for better race relations

Sep 19, 2017

A northwestern Ontario resident who received the Order of Canada for his work in social justice advocacy and improving race relations says he’s “disappointed” and “disgusted” by recent comments made by Senator Lynn Beyak.

In an open letter published on Sept. 1 on her Senate website, Beyak wrote that First Nations people should give up their Indigenous rights and integrate into Canadian society by trading status cards for Canadian citizenship. That’s despite the fact that Indigenous people born in Canada are already citizens.

“The last time I checked, anyway, I was a Canadian citizen,” Garnet Angeconeb said. “I do have a status card and I don’t need to trade that in for my Canadian citizenship when I’m already Canadian.”