"I'm
actually part Indian. I think Inuit or something? I'm enough percent that in
Canada I can get free gas," the Stratford, Ontario native told Rolling
Stone in an interview that appears in the magazine's August edition.
The
comment sparked outrage in Native communities and on Thursday, National Chief
of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Betty Ann Lavallee and vice-chief Dwight
Dorey issued a joint statement calling the teen sensation's comments
"simply not true."
"These
kinds of remarks are another example of what Aboriginal Peoples in Canada
struggle with every day. It promotes the misconception that we are somehow
getting a free ride. This simply is not the case and we are concerned that many
people may believe what he said," the statement says.
In
Ontario, the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs notes First Nations people who have
a gas card don't have to pay a tax of 14.7 cents per litre on gasoline - but
it's not free.
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