OTTAWA – Almost exactly one year ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney convened a meeting with First Nations leaders amid intense pressure over the government’s plans to rapidly develop new energy and infrastructure projects.
It was there that he promised that meaningful consultation and ensuring both Indigenous participation and prosperity would be key to getting major projects built.
But Tuesday, many of the same leaders were back in Ottawa to attend the Assembly of First Nations’ (AFN) annual general assembly, where they told CTV News their communities are still waiting to see what that co-operation will look like.
And further, with few nation-building projects much further along, the government is preparing further legislation to expedite the regulatory approval process, and that is sparking fresh concerns.
“The federal government can try and set up all the timelines that they want for project approvals, but they can’t put a deadline on First Nations rights, and you have rights,” AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told the assembly of chiefs and other representatives in Ottawa on Tuesday.
“We have said many times First Nations are for economic growth that will drive Canada’s prosperity, but not at the expense of our rights, or of the Crown’s legal obligations to our people.”
And Carney’s plans to fast-track future impact assessments took centre stage Tuesday afternoon, with Kebaowek First Nation Chief Lance Haymond telling the crowd that what the government has provided for discussion, could have negative impacts on Indigenous communities.
“There is a serious risk that the expedition and deregulation of major projects will lead to violations of FPIC (free, prior and informed consent) and Indigenous laws about resource use and development,” he said.
The chiefs CTV News spoke with on the sidelines of the AFN meeting said they still feel as if they don’t have a seat at the table, or are lacking the information needed to offer informed consent for new project proposals before they’re made public.
“There is more dialog needed before we agree to any process,” said Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee.
“And whatever the chiefs decide, it has to be based on their rights being protected, and also ensuring that they have equal participation in the overall prosperity of any project. Because it’s their territory, it’s their land, it’s their environment.”
Bunibonibee Cree Nation Chief Sheila North said that her Manitoba community is still waiting to be engaged, and warned that without adequately consulting her people on major decisions that may impact them, the federal government will be met with opposition, and potentially litigation.
“We see Prime Minister Carney all over the country and all over the world, talking about our lands and our resources, but yet we have not seen them on the ground to engage us in any sort of fashion, and that needs to happen quickly,” she said.
Whitefish Lake First Nation Chief Herb Jackson said from his vantage point in Alberta, both the federal and provincial governments are “doing a lot of stuff without Indigenous input.”
“How do they expect these things to go smoothly if we’re left out of the conversation?” he said. “Talking to us here and there, but telling us nothing.”
“They still use these divide and conquer tactics, right? Beads and trinket stuff. You know, I think in this day and age, we got to be a little better,” Jackson said.
“So for me, if the prime minister is listening: do the right thing. Do it honestly. We’ll move faster ahead in doing these things the right way.”
Over the next few days, First Nations leadership will also be discussing child welfare, housing and infrastructure needs, as well as calls for the Vatican to rescind a series of papal decrees.
On Thursday, they will hear from a slate of federal cabinet ministers, including Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, and Dominic LeBlanc, who among his cabinet titles, is the minister responsible for intergovernmental affairs and creating “one Canadian economy.”
The prime minister is not scheduled to speak, though it was confirmed Tuesday that he will be holding a dedicated meeting with Indigenous leaders in late October.
