NDP House leader and Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen thinks that despite a new government report on building Aboriginal support for energy projects in BC, Prime Minister Harper's Conservative government remains clueless about how to repair relations with First Nations.

"It requires a fundamental culture change for them to change their relationship with First Nations," he said. He pointed out that government has had the report for four days and hasn't expressed interest in acting on its recommendations.

"I honestly don't think they get it, which is amazing after so many years. Such bright people, acting in such dumb ways. It's amazing."

But Cullen said the report by Douglas Eyford, a Vancouver lawyer who was commissioned by Ottawa to create the report, contains good suggestions like:

Principled dialogue with Aboriginal communities

Commitment to undertaking projects in environmentally sound manner

Creating a tripartite energy group with Aboriginal communities, local and provincial governments and industry.

But while he praised the report, he criticized the Harper government's actions toward First Nations to date, calling Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver "ignorant" for attacking pipeline opponents as 'foreign-funded radicals' and 'enemies of the state'.

Cullen said industry still has the possibility of working with First Nations in the future, despite many Nations' vocal opposition to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.

"I'd make some distinction between some of the new proposals, and one like Enbridge, in which the well has been completely poisoned," said Cullen.

But Eyford's recommendations would be for naught, he added, if the federal government decides to approve Northern Gateway in the face of broad opposition.

"If First Nations say, 'we are completely opposed to Enbridge', and yet the government tries to ram it through anyway, it will put truth to all the lies that the government talks about, 'respect,'" Cullen said.

"If you want to build trust, that means not always getting what you want, when you want it. We judge a person by their actions more than by their words in the north. And so far, this government's actions have been the opposite of their words. They've been saying they care about the First Nations and then acting as if they don't every time."