Manitoba chiefs call for PM to rescind Charles Adler's appointment to Senate
![Grand Chief Cathy Merrick Grand Chief Cathy Merrick (left) with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs speaks to media on Aug. 20, 2024 in Winnipeg. Also pictured is Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak. First Nations organizations in Manitoba are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to rescind the appointment of Charles Adler to the Senate. (Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/8/20/grand-chief-cathy-merrick-1-7007685-1724181413262.jpg)
First Nations chiefs in Manitoba are calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to rescind the appointment of veteran broadcaster Charles Adler to the Senate.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says Adler's past comments toward Indigenous Peoples are "grossly offensive" and perpetuate stereotypes.
In 1999, while working on a radio show in Winnipeg, Adler called Indigenous leaders "uncivilized boneheads" and "intellectually moribund," among other names.
Grand Chief Cathy Merrick questioned how Adler, who was appointed to the Senate to represent Manitoba on Trudeau's advice on Saturday, could advocate for First Nations in a respectful way given his previous words.
"For comments like that to be made from someone that is going to be appointed into the Senate is not acceptable, because you carry those thoughts," she said.
"It might have happened in 1999 but today it's 2024 -- we should change the attitude."
In a statement on Tuesday, Adler said he is accountable for what he says and does.
"I've reached out to the grand chief and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, to request a face-to-face meeting. I look forward to hearing from them," he wrote.
The Prime Minister's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said it's hurtful when people like Adler are appointed to the Senate, and that she hopes he makes time to meet with and learn from communities.
"We have to come to a better way in this country," she said.
"But at the same time, when things like that happen it sets us back just a little bit."
Angela Levasseur, acting grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, said to appoint Adler is to "reward discrimination."
"You are rewarding stereotyping of First Nations and Indigenous people, and it's very shameful, and it's a dark day," she said.
"MKO is also calling for this appointment to be rescinded, because on behalf of MKO Nations, we are unbelievably and unequivocally offended."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7034404.1726088503!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Buy nothing': PSAC wants federal workers to boycott downtown Ottawa businesses
A union representing federal employees is asking its members to bring their own lunch to work, in an apparent retaliation against downtown Ottawa businesses as new return-to-office protocols begin.
Actions speak louder: What experts are saying about the body language in the U.S. presidential debate
The highly anticipated debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a heated matchup. Here's what experts who analyzed the exchange had to say.
Jon Bon Jovi helps talk woman down from ledge on Nashville bridge
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jon Bon Jovi and a video production assistant persuaded a woman standing on the ledge of a pedestrian bridge in Nashville to come back over the railing to safety.
Inside a Manitoba ghost town, a group of ladies works to keep it alive
Abandoned homes line the streets of Lauder, a town that's now a ghost of what it once was. Yet inside, a small community is thriving.
B.C. family says razor blades found in bag of frozen blueberries
The B.C. parents of an 11-year-old girl said their daughter recently found a package containing razor blades in a bag of Kirkland-brand frozen blueberries.
Langenburg UFO sighting commemorated with silver coin
Perhaps Saskatchewan's most famous encounter with Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP/UFO) – "The Langenburg Event" is now being immortalized in the form of a collective coin.
Taylor Swift wins at MTV Video Music Awards and Chappell Roan gets medieval
Taylor Swift and Post Malone took home the first award at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, for best collaboration, handed to them by Flavor Flav and Olympian Jordan Chiles.
Man, 70, and woman, 71, found shot dead in Montreal apartment, police
Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating after a man, 70, and woman, 71, were killed by gunshot wounds in an apartment.
Tens of thousands in the dark after Hurricane Francine strikes Louisiana with 100 m.p.h. winds
Hurricane Francine struck Louisiana on Wednesday evening as a Category 2 storm that forecasters warned could bring deadly storm surge, widespread flooding and destructive winds on the northern U.S. Gulf Coast.