Article content

On Friday afternoon, Stephen Harper went to Rideau Hall to present the Public Service of Canada’s Outstanding Achievement Award to Ian Burney, assistant deputy minister of trade.

The prime minister did not have time, or judge it appropriate, to attend another event taking place in Ottawa: the national roundtable on missing and murdered aboriginal women, which took place in a downtown hotel.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Stephen Maher: Harper and aboriginals not in same room, let alone on same page Back to video

The federal government, which needs to lead the national response to the urgent and terrible problem facing aboriginals, is unenthusiastic.

Aboriginal leaders sat down with provincial representatives, including Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, and two federal ministers, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt and Status of Women Minister Kellie Leitch.

The United Nations human development index has rated Canada sixth-best place to live in the world, up here

They listened to the relatives of missing and murdered aboriginal women, adopted a vague framework for action and agreed to meet again next year.