Miawpukek chief requests to address House of Assembly on racism

Miawpukek First Nation Chief Mi'sel Joe says he has sent a written request to the Speaker of the House of Assembly asking to address the members of the House about racism.

"As we all know, racism is still alive and apparently doing well in places where we assume it should not be and sadly in places where we have a right to be treated fairly and with dignity," Joe wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday.

"I cannot pretend this incident did not occur, for doing so will signify to the world more of the same — acceptance. We have accepted too much for too long."

Joe said he wants to encourage the province to begin a dialogue about racism, a problem he said has existed for many years and will take a long time to abolish.

"The solution will not be achieved in one, two or three discussions," he said.

A spokesperson for the office of the clerk of the House told CBC News Wednesday that the Speaker alone cannot grant Joe's request. It will require a resolution passed by the members of the House.

The last time a non-Member addressed the House of Assembly was in 1990, when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney spoke on the Meech Lake Accord.

Joe's request comes following comments made by Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources Gerry Byrne, accusing NDP MHA Jim Dinn of marginalizing Indigenous people and supporting racist comments.

Byrne claimed Dinn didn't do enough to rebuke a comment made by a member of the Salmonid Association of Eastern Newfoundland that the association was "kowtowing" to Indigenous people.

Debate over how to address Byrne's behaviour took over the House of Assembly on Tuesday, carrying over into Wednesday.

Trimper addresses his own 'mistake'

During that continued debate Wednesday, Liberal MHA Perry Trimper spoke candidly about his own remarks left inadvertently on a voicemail in September that were described as "very racist" by an Innu Nation staffer.

Trimper said the recent discussion of racism in the House has forced him to reflect on his own words.

"We only have to look to all of our individual pasts to see that, in fact, we are struggling. Are we making progress? I would suggest we are," he said.

"But every now and then, we stumble, and it's those stumbles that catch us all, it certainly caught me, but I think that's when we need to pause and say 'are we on the right track?'

Trimper said he has been "honoured and blessed" to work with Indigenous groups in Labrador since he moved to the province in 1987, and regretted what he said.

"I was mad at myself because I knew what those words would mean to certain folks, particularly within the Innu Nation, which I've been working closely with for so much of my life," he said.

"I still wonder in my mind, why did I say that? Why did I do that? Why did I lose control in that instant?"

After the voicemail recording of Trimper was made public, he said he apologised to Innu Nation Grand Chief Gregory Rich and spoke with the premier before resigning from provincial cabinet.

Trimper said after comments like Byrne's and his own, he acknowledges there have been issues, but believes the legislature can admit its mistakes and make changes for the better.

"It is a serious undertone, it is something that we're all struggling with, but when we make those mistakes, I feel we need to apologize," he said.

"We need to realize that, we need to put ourselves back on the rails."

Personally, Trimper said his own "mistake" will help him refocus and double down on reconciliation and respecting everyone in the province.

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