Band members from the Blood Tribe filled the reserve’s administration building and the Saipoyi Elementary School in Standoff, Alta. Friday to shake hands and visit with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau is on the campaign trail in southern Alberta along with Liberal candidate Stan Sakamoto, who is running for a seat in the federal byelection for Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner.
READ MORE: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stumps for Liberal byelection candidate in Medicine Hat
During his visit to the Blood Tribe, the prime minister met with chief and council to discuss First Nations issues, something Chief Charles Weasel Head said is key to making changes in Canada.
“Our issues aren’t about complaining, about handouts – they aren’t about those sorts of things,” Weasel Head said. “We have some positive successes in our community. We want to reiterate it to him – solutions, not only for the Blood Tribe, but throughout the country.”
Friday was not Trudeau’s first visit to the Blood Tribe. He visited a few years ago with close family friend and former senator Joyce Fairbairn.
While in Standoff on Friday, Trudeau also spoke to reporters about former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, who died in a plane crash in British Columbia Thursday night. He said he would remember Prentice as a kind and respectful man who had deep convictions.
READ MORE: Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice killed in BC plane crash
Watch below: While in Standoff, Alta. on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his “shock and sadness” over the news that former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice died in a plane crash in British Columbia Thursday night.
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