OTTAWA – Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push for major projects is expected to be a major topic of conversation on Monday, as First Nation leaders sit down with the country’s First Ministers in Ottawa.
“This is Canada at its best,” said Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. “I think that us being here together shows the willingness of the provinces, of the federal government, and of First Nations trying to find that way.”
Monday’s meeting is being described as historic because it has been 20 years since a meeting of First Nations and the country’s political leaders has been held.
It will also happen as questions continue to be asked about the federal government’s recently introduced Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act – a piece of legislation that lays out the prime minister’s intent when he promised to bring about a “one project, one review, one year” policy for large scale projects that Ottawa thinks would be beneficial for the country.
But many First Nation leaders fear the government will use C-39 to ignore their duty to consult, which is a legal principle established by the Supreme Court in 2004 that says the federal government is obliged to consult indigenous peoples whenever Ottawa engages in a policy that could hurt treaty rights.
But Rebecca Aulty, the Minister for Crown Indigenous Relations, says that is not what the federal government is trying to do with the bill.
“It’s really about how we can do stuff, how we can move through the regulatory process better,” she said. “So, instead of having two agencies doing the review, we’re moving to one, really focusing on streamlining the process. But the duty to consult remains. The standards remain.”
On Sunday, Aulty represented the prime minister on a “Day of Ceremony” that was organized by the AFN.
“Ceremony is an expression of purpose and intent,” said Woodhouse Nepinak. “It calls on each of us to orient our hearts, our minds, and spirits in a positive way.”
The organization invited all the premiers to attend and participate in traditional indigenous ceremonies ahead of Monday’s meeting, in particular a tobacco ceremony on the grounds of the Diefenbaker Building in Ottawa.
But only five premiers took part in Sunday’s event: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Tony Wakeham, New Brunswick’s Susan Holt, P.E.I.’s Rob Lantz, Manitoba’s Wab Kinew and Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson.
Even when the meeting begins in earnest Monday, the premiers of Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia are expected to be absent.
When asked if she was bothered by the absence of some First Minsters, Woodhouse Nepinak said she still holds out hope that some, or all of them, might still show up.
But if they don’t, she did have a message.
“To anybody who’s thinking of not coming tomorrow,” she said, “remember that you’re going to have to work with First Nations one way or another. And in order to make this country the best that it can be, it’s going to take everybody working at the table.”
