Chief says rejection of Qalipu applicants destroying goodwill among members

The chief of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq says fewer people are being accepted to the First Nation band than expected.

Members of the off-reserve Newfoundland and Labrador band have been receiving letters from Indigenous and Northern Affairs on their applications to be recognized as status Indians, but Brendan Mitchell says too few are being accepted.

• Decision week for thousands of applicants to the Qalipu band

"The numbers of people being approved is smaller than what I thought would get in," Mitchell told CBC, who said there were just over 100,000 applicants altogether.

"That is a lot of people," he said. "The numbers of those people though that are going to get in to this band are a lot smaller than anybody expected. That's a sad situation."

The federal government was expected to release the number of successful applicants Monday, but did not. Mitchell said people had high expectations for joining the Qalipu First Nation — high expectation that will become even higher disappointment.

What's happening right now, truthfully, is negating a lot of the goodwill that happened to Aboriginal people in Newfoundland with the startup of Qalipu First Nation.- Brendan Mitchell

"What's happening right now, truthfully, is negating a lot of the goodwill that happened to Aboriginal people in Newfoundland with the startup of Qalipu First Nation," he said. "It's been a nice five years. Our culture is coming back. Our language is on its way back. People are proud now."

All that will be negated by the rejections that people have been receiving, said Mitchell.

'Terrible shame'

"For me personally, that's a terrible shame," he said.

Rejected applicants are "pissed," said Mitchell, and are angrily calling and emailing him and the First Nation. He said he'd lobby the federal government on behalf of disappointed applicants.

"We are not here to fight against our own people. We are here to support our people," he said. "Qalipu First Nation is not their enemy. We are here are trying to work and do what we can to fix this problem."