{"id":93253,"date":"2025-06-04T16:16:50","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T20:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=93253"},"modified":"2025-06-04T16:16:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T20:16:50","slug":"fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/04\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraser apologizes, says comments on Indigenous consultation eroded trust"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Alessia Passafiume Justice Minister Sean Fraser apologized Wednesday for comments he made about the government&#8217;s duty to consult with Indigenous leaders on major projects. Fraser said Tuesday that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires consultation but does not amount to &#8220;a blanket veto power&#8221; over projects. Similar language asserting UNDRIP does not convey a veto is used in federal government documents about the declaration. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Fraser said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called him Tuesday night to express her frustration with his comments, and he apologized. &#8220;Despite innocent intentions, I think my comments actually caused hurt and potentially eroded a very precarious trust that has been built up over many years to respect the rights of Indigenous people&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F06%2F04%2Ffraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alessia Passafiume Justice Minister Sean Fraser apologized Wednesday for comments he made about the government&#8217;s duty to consult with Indigenous leaders on major projects. Fraser said Tuesday that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires consultation but does not amount to &#8220;a blanket veto power&#8221; over projects. Similar language asserting UNDRIP does not convey a veto is used in federal government documents about the declaration. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Fraser said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called him Tuesday night to express her frustration with his comments, and he apologized. &#8220;Despite innocent intentions, I think my comments actually caused hurt and potentially eroded a very precarious trust that has been built up over many years to respect the rights of Indigenous people... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F06%2F04%2Ffraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fraser apologizes, says comments on Indigenous consultation eroded trust - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/04\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fraser apologizes, says comments on Indigenous consultation eroded trust - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alessia Passafiume Justice Minister Sean Fraser apologized Wednesday for comments he made about the government&#8217;s duty to consult with Indigenous leaders on major projects. Fraser said Tuesday that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires consultation but does not amount to &#8220;a blanket veto power&#8221; over projects. Similar language asserting UNDRIP does not convey a veto is used in federal government documents about the declaration. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Fraser said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called him Tuesday night to express her frustration with his comments, and he apologized. &#8220;Despite innocent intentions, I think my comments actually caused hurt and potentially eroded a very precarious trust that has been built up over many years to respect the rights of Indigenous people\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/04\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-04T20:16:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Fraser apologizes, says comments on Indigenous consultation eroded trust\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-04T20:16:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":671,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/fraser-apologizes-says-comments-on-indigenous-consultation-eroded-trust\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fraser apologizes, says comments on Indigenous consultation eroded trust - 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