Danielle Smith aide says First Nations should solve centuries of colonial damage before criticizing government

A top aide to Premier Danielle Smith has clarified that First Nations leaders should spend less time criticizing the Alberta government and more time cleaning up the social crises governments have spent generations helping create.

Responding to chiefs who called for an investigation into whether Smith’s separation plans threaten treaty obligations, executive director Bruce McAllister suggested Indigenous leaders focus on poverty, addiction, housing shortages, violence, and child welfare instead.

Political analysts praised the statement as a bold new approach to accountability in which the people living with a problem are blamed for mentioning it.

The strategy also conveniently establishes that communities must first solve every issue facing them before earning the right to question those who helped create many of them.

At press time, Alberta officials confirmed that anyone drowning should first learn to swim before criticizing whoever threw them into the lake.

---

---