Politician apologizes for remarks about Native 'handouts'

Tuesday, October 25, 2011  

Native leaders in Saskatchewan say a candidate for office should bow out of the race for making offensive comments about Native people.

At a candidates' forum last week, Greg Ottenbreit was asked about revenue sharing with "minorities and special interest groups." He said he supported economic development for First Nations but also offered a social perspective on the issue.

"I have a lot of First Nations friends, I'll talk to them about this quite a bit and they'll tell you that like the handouts, the money that comes so free and easy, all it does is go to quite often drugs and alcohol and other things and creates more social issues," responded Ottenbreit, according to a transcript reviewed by CJME News Talk Radio.

Ottenbreit apologized but said he didn't quite remember what he said at the forum.

"You can't have people like that going around and promoting division. It just doesn't make sense when we're trying to build a better Saskatchewan," Morley Watson, the acting chief of Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, said in a press release.

Get the Story:
FSIN calls for Ottenbreit ousting (CJME 10/24)
FSIN calls on Sask. Party candidate to step down (CBC 10/24)
Native group wants Saskatchewan candidate ousted after 'handouts' remark (The Regina Leader-Post 10/25)