A meeting Wednesday between aboriginal leaders, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and two of his cabinet ministers produced no concrete proposals on how to reduce tensions between provincial police and aboriginal women in Val-d’Or in the wake of widely-publicized claims of sexual assault.
Aboriginal leaders have been pushing for an independent commission of inquiry into systemic racism going back 15 years, but the government said it’s seeking a “better” vehicle. It made no proposal Wednesday, though First Nations leader Ghislain Picard said Couillard did not categorically reject a commission. Provincial Security Minister Martin Coiteux said the proposal would be studied “very seriously.”
