The Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Fort William First Nation teamed up to host a rally outside of the Peter MacKay meet and greet at the Finlandia Club on Bay Street.
Over 140 people took part in the rally for over an hour outside the MacKay event.
Fort William Chief Peter Collins tells us they take issue with the Conservative candidate’s tweets about natural gas pipeline blockades.
Tweets they feel are inappropriate include the one below. A now-deleted tweet also read “Glad to see a couple Albertans with a pickup truck can do more for our economy in an afternoon than Justin Trudeau could do in four years.”
We can’t allow our economy to be hijacked by a small gang of professional protesters and thugs.
With me? ➡️ https://t.co/ZFU59BT0ds pic.twitter.com/KjwH8LvHa0
— Peter MacKay (@PeterMacKay) February 18, 2020
“I think at the end of the day his comments are very detrimental to our community and even to our people,” Chief Collins says.
Collins goes on to say “those kind of comments are no longer tolerated in our country and in our communities. When you look at reconciliation that’s not reconciliation by a long shot.”
“Us doing this together is going to send a clear and loud message that Peter MacKay is not the right leader to take on the Conservative leadership,” Collins adds.
NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler addressed the tweets at the rally.
“Social media is a very powerful tool and even if you delete your tweet five minutes later, it’s still out there. What he said in those tweets is wrong and he knew he was wrong and that’s why he deleted them. For a guy that’s running for the leader of his party, that’s not acceptable,” Fiddler adds.
Peter MacKay is in Thunder Bay as part of the Special Olympic Winter Games and to meet with Conservative party supporters.
