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Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence says she is no longer attending her long-sought meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday because Governor General David Johnston will not be going.

“I will not be attending Friday’s meeting with the prime minister, as the governor general’s attendance is integral when discussing inherent and treaty rights,” Spence said in a statement Wednesday after a morning of conflicting statements from her staff.

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Spence said they wrote to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to send her Canadian representative to Friday’s meeting. She said Johnston officially turned down her request.

“This is a time of crisis and this government of the day is not taking Indigenous Peoples seriously,” added Danny Metatawabin in the statement. “We are sending messages to the Queen. Canada should take notice and act honourably.”

Spence made the statement after a morning of conflicting statements to various media outlets about whether she would be attending Friday’s meeting. This came a day after a Toronto Star reporter said she was kicked off the Victoria Island site where Spence is set up by her supporters and a Global News crew was reportedly escorted off Attawapiskat by band police after trying to interview residents.