Ottawa tells chiefs to submit questions before major projects meeting with Carney

National Observer

12 hours ago

Ottawa has asked First Nations chiefs to submit their questions in advance of their meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney next week to discuss his government's controversial major projects bill.
Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines by sidestepping existing laws.
Carney promised to meet with First Nations after chiefs said their rights were not respected by the rush to push the bill through Parliament.
The invitation to the July 17 meeting shared with The Canadian Press shows the government is giving chiefs until July 16 to submit questions they want answered, and says they will have the option to vote on which questions will be posed by their peers.
The invitation says that process will help highlight "shared priorities and bring the most pressing issues to the forefront."
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said Friday that chiefs are "united" ahead of the meeting and are still alarmed at the way the legislation was fast-tracked through Parliament with little input from First Nations.
"First Nations are united in an understanding that we have always supported economic development and prosperity for all, but not at the expense of our rights or responsible environmental stewardship," Woodhouse Nepinak said.
The Assembly of First Nations met Thursday to discuss the bill and the upcoming meeting with the federal government.
Woodhouse Nepinak said during that meeting that while "some important amendments have been made" to the legislation — including one removing a clause that would have allowed Ottawa to sidestep the Indian Act — not enough was done to quell First Nations' concerns.
She pointed to an amendment posed by Sen. Paul Prosper to include language on obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of First Nations in the legislation. The amendment did not pass.
Sen. Prosper told the meeting he's "worried about how future governments will use this law" and whether the next economic crisis might give them cover to sidestep laws again.
"I'm worried about the process (being) repeated in the future, when the next big emergency happens," he said.
Former national chief Ovide Mercredi said at the meeting Thursday he hopes First Nations chiefs attend the July 17 meeting "strong and confident," and that they don't compromise the rights of their people.
'I think Canadians need to suffer a little bit just to understand what we have experienced as a people since the founding of this country. The fear that they have losing their wealth they never shared with us is real for them,' he said.
'They can curtail their spending, whatever they have to do to save money, to maintain their house, their businesses. But they don't need to use the excuse of a president down south as a reason for curtailing any interest that we have as a people.'
The major projects bill was introduced largely in response to economic threats from U.S. President Donald Trump and was pitched as a tool to strengthen the Canadian economy against U.S. tariffs by developing major projects more quickly.
In a letter to Carney on Thursday, Trump threatened to impose 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods on Aug. 1 — setting a new deadline for the trade talks that were supposed to wrap up by July 21.
Mercredi said he hopes Carney doesn't call in the army to deal with any potential demonstrations over the bill or major projects.
Friday marks the 35th anniversary of the start of the Kanehsatake Resistance, or the Oka Crisis — a 78-day standoff between Quebec police, the RCMP, the Canadian Army and a Mohawk community over a proposed golf course expansion on a burial ground.
Mohawk activists blocked roads and occupied the site during a 78-day protest that saw conflicts with police and the army.
First Nations chiefs have warned blockades and protests against the major projects legislation are not off the table. Demonstrations against the legislation have so far remained small and localized in capital cities and in some northern Ontario communities.
At least one demonstration is scheduled for Ottawa on the day of the meeting, hosted by a youth collective opposed to the legislation.