Natives shut out of apology

Native groups feel shut out of residential-schools apologyPrime Minister Stephen Harper will rise in the House of Commons next Wednesday to deliver an apology that former students of Indian residential schools have waited decades to hear.

But Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl acknowledged Thursday that no native leaders will get to see the apology before it's read in the House, and details surrounding the landmark day are being left to the last minute.And:NDP Leader Jack Layton privately appealed to the Prime Minister's Office weeks ago to involve native leaders in the drafting of the apology.

“It's deeply troubling,” he said of the government's decision not to circulate a draft. “They run the risk of that kind of paternalistic attitude of ‘we-know-best and the first nations will just have to accept what we dish out.'”