OTTAWA — The man who said "no" and changed the course of Canadian history has died.Elijah Harper, former chief, MLA and MP, died in Ottawa early Friday morning from complications due to diabetes. He was 64.
"It’s a sad day indeed," said Manitoba Aboriginal Affairs Minister Eric Robinson, who knew Harper for years. "Elijah was a good person, a person of tremendous humility."
His most famous and longest-lasting legacy came in June 1990, when he held up an eagle feather in the Manitoba legislature and said "no" to allowing the Meech Lake accord to come to a vote in the house. The vote required unanimous consent and Harper’s opposition is recognized as one of the things that killed the constitutional amendments being pushed by then-prime minister Brian Mulroney.
"The problem is we, as aboriginal people, have not been dealt fairly, and also the governments have not dealt with the aboriginal issues the way we would like them to have," Harper said in an interview with CBC’s As It Happens during the Meech debate in June 1990. "I think we have always been dealt with as second-class citizens and aboriginal nations are not a priority for first ministers and governments across this country."...winnipegfreepress
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