NATIVE LEADERS OF CANADA


Konrad Sioui, Haskan, Huron-Wendat, 1953-
He is a hereditary chief of the Bear Clan of the Huron-Wendat Nation, and is Grand Chief of the Council of his Nation. He was elected three consecutive times Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador. During that time, he represented the region on the Executive Council and acted on numerous occasions as Grand Chief under the leadership of George Erasmus. He was the official and national spokesperson on constitutional reform issues between 1984 and 1994. He won a landmark, unanimous decision at the Supreme Court of Canada in the spring of 1991 against Quebec and Canada known as the Sioui Decision. This ruling acknowledged that treaties entered into between the Crown and First Nations are international agreements entered into between sovereign nations. Mr. Sioui is also recognized by Elijah Harper as one of the main figures, along with Phil Fontaine, who actively fought against the Meech Lake Accord. At the international level, Sioui represented the Assembly of First Nations in Geneva from 1985 to 1992. He has addressed the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples on numerous occasions on issues such as treaty rights, human rights, the rights of children and the elderly, land rights and development. He has also addressed the U.N. Commission on Human Rights about the urgent necessity to modify the U.N. Charter to allow access for indigenous peoples of the world. Sioui is a dedicated humanitarian and diplomat and is a respected and skilled negotiator. He pursues a simple and traditional lifestyle with his wife, Linda Rock of the Innu Nation, and his four children on the Huron Reserve at Wendake, Quebec.







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