Canadian premiers call for Indian reforms

QUEBEC CITY, Quebec, July 17 (UPI) -- Canada's provincial and territorial premiers are calling for the federal government to live up to an accord guaranteeing aboriginal rights.

At their annual meeting this week in Quebec City, the 13 premiers and Indian leaders agreed Wednesday an accord struck in 2005 in Kelowna, British Columbia, needed to be acted upon by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government, the Globe and Mail reported.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Quebec Premier Jean Charest said it was a logical time to move, as Harper's government issued a landmark apology to Canadian Indians, or First Nations, for century-old abuses of Indian children at residential schools.

The Kelowna Accord was struck under the Liberal government of former Prime Minister Paul Martin just before Harper's Conservatives defeated Martin. Since, some Conservatives have dismissed the accord as a "press release" created by a government that knew it was on its way out, the report said.

The accord pledged to bring aboriginal living conditions up to the national average within 10 years at a cost of more than $5 billion.