For the first time since Confederation an Inuit voice was heard in the Senate on this date in 1977. Willie Adams had been named to the Red Chamber a few months before on the advice of then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He rose from his seat to participate in the debate about the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.
“You know, when I was appointed to the Senate I was told that I represented the people, and I figured I was going to help them with land claims and the development of a pipeline, and that sort of thing, in the north; and I really do think that between the Senate and the House of Commons we should be concerned about the people up there, especially when it comes to their rights in the north,” he said. “Of course, honourable senators, I have lived in the north for a long time and I know much more about that part of the country than I do about the rest, or about the south part of the country. I can tell you that the people in the north feel that they own that part of the country up there, and yet they feel they have no power to save their own lands. For myself, I will be dealing with people who are concerned about their land claims, and fair settlements will certainly have to be made in the future.”
You can read Senator Adams’ history-making speech in full at this link: https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_SOC3202_01/444
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.