Aboriginal people are proud to support Scott Brison for Liberal Leader

Aboriginal people are proud to support Liberal King-Hants MP, the Honourable Scott Brison as our next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

I have been an avid and excited supporter of Scott Brison since he announced his intention to seek the leadership of the Liberal party. In this somewhat difficult time for Liberals, Scott has provided an optimistic and bold vision for a Canada and a new generation of politics. Here is an e-mail I sent a few weeks ago expressing my support for Scott.

E-mail: As you may know I am supporting Scott Brison for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and hopefully Opposition Leader and then Prime Minister. I feel comfortable saying this because I know Scott Brison is committed to working to rebuild our party and putting the necessary hardwork and determination to create conditions for the Liberal party to take on Stephen Harper's disastrous government. I feel good about supporting him from a number of levels, as a Liberal, as a young Canadian and as a Westerner. I beleive he has the right combination of having a vision, knowing where to take our party and how to communicate with Canadians that is needed to be a national leader.

I have talked to Scott about his ideas and vision for the Liberal Party and I have no problem in stating that he is a true liberal who beleives in being socially progressive, economically innovative and environmentally responsible. Scott was re-elected twice as a Liberal in a very traditional conservative riding. He knows what it will takes to get more Aboriginal, Western and rural Liberal candidates elected. He also has the economic and progressive values that will engage urban Canadians. Brison has shown his commitment to our party by being a brave and firm Minister of Public Works when the party was going through a very difficult time (sponsorship). I watched him in the House of Commons day-after-day taking hits from the Conservatives about our party's integrity, Scott stood his ground and stared the Conservatives deep in the eyes and let them know that he was proud to be Liberal and would challenge any Conservative or NDP. Like he says we have to be more economically innovative then the Conservatives and more progressive then the NDP.

In terms of the leadership, I of course am a little biased, but I beleive if you go through the candidates websites and speeches, Scott has offered the most in terms of an Aboriginal agenda, dicussing how he will work to develop Aboriginal policy and work internally in the party to ensure the Aboriginal Peoples' Commission and Aboriginal Caucus play an central role. In collaboration and partnership with non-Liberal and Liberal Aboriginal leaders and individuals from across this country, the Brison campaign today revealed his Aboriginal Prosperity Agenda. Scott has worked with us to develop these policies and if elected leader of our party, he is committed to ensuring that Aboriginal people lead the discussion in developing ideas and solutions on how to engage challenges and opportunities.

Scott Brison is right when he says he represents a new generation of politics, I am happy to be part of a new generation of thinking that will renew the Liberal Party and earn the trust and confidence of Aboriginals and all Canadians.

If you go through all of the candidate's websites and google them, you will find that Brison has the most comprehensive Aboriginal policy and also recognizes the importance of the Aboriginal Peoples' Commission, the Liberal Aboriginal Caucus and Aboriginal members in general. Scott Brison has growing support amongst Aboriginal Liberals (or AborLiberals as my friend Cindy Woodhouse likes to say):

Prominent and Ex-Officio Aboriginal Liberal Supporters of Scott Brison
APC = Aboriginal Peoples’ Commission, the APC has a national body, as well as provincial and territorial associations.
Allan Adam, past provincial Liberal candidate, Saskatchewan
Ryan Buffalo, Vice-President (Youth), Alberta APC
T. J. Burke, (Aboriginal) MLA (Fredericton North), New Brunswick
George Cameron, past provincial Liberal candidate,Saskatchewan
Darcy Diachinsky, President, APC Saskatchewan
Autumn EagleSpeaker, President, Alberta APC
Joshua Fraser, National Vice-President (Youth), APC and Vice-President (Communications), Alberta APC
Ryan Francis, President, Nova Scotia APC
Sheila Keewatin-Musqua, Past National Vice President (Organization), APC
Irene Morin, Past APC National Co-chair
Don Ross, Past APC National Co-chair and Co-chair, 2003 Liberal Party of Canada Biennial Convention
Cindy Woodhouse, National Vice-President (Communications), APC and Vice President, APC Manitoba