'Epitome of colonial thinking': Sask. Sen. Lillian Dyck reacts to Sen. Lynn Beyak's latest comments

Saskatchewan Sen. LillianDycksays she is bothered by fellow Sen.Lynn Beyak's comments that First Nations people should trade their status cards for Canadian citizenship.

On Sept. 1,Beyakpublished the following comment on herwebsite:

"Trade your status card for a Canadian citizenship, with a fair and negotiatedpayoutto each Indigenous man, woman and child in Canada, to settle all the outstanding land claims and treaties, and move forward together just like the leaders already do in Ottawa."

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"This latest announcement is completely at odds with what she voted and it doesn't make any sense," said Dyck, who is a member of Gordon First Nation.

Beyakwas part of a government committee that agreed Bill S-3 should be amended starting this fall. The bill is based on removing sexist elements from the Indian Act. For example, under Section 12 of the 1951 Indian Act,a First Nationswoman who married a non-First Nationsman lost her status.

After Beyak previously defended residential schools, she was removed from the Senate's Aboriginal peoples committee.

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Beyak met with members of the Sioux Lookout community, located in northwestern Ontario, in July.

Dycksaid she isn't convincedBeyaktook much away from the experience.

"She doesn`t seem to be really up to speed," she said.

"And what really bothers me is that she`s taken on the epitome of colonial thinking. She seems to be really stuck in a solid state, intransigent state of denial about Canadian history and what happened to Indigenous peoples."

Beyakdeclined an interview request from CBC earlier this week, but did make mention in a press conference about a CBCarticle published earlier this week regardingher comments.

A representativeforAndrewScheer, leader of the Conservative Party,indicatedBeyak'sviews do not represent the position of the party. The statement acknowledged a need to continue addressing damage done by residential schools.